³⁷The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and all of his officials. ³⁸So Pharaoh said to them, “The spirit of God is in this man. We can’t find anyone else like him, can we?”

³⁹Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “God has made all of this known to you. No one is as wise and understanding as you are. ⁴⁰You will be in charge of my palace. All of my people must obey your orders. I will be greater than you only because I’m the one who sits on the throne.”

Joseph Is Put in Charge of Egypt

⁴¹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’m putting you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴²Then Pharaoh took his ring off his finger. It was the ring he used to stamp all of the official papers. He put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes that were made out of fine linen. He put a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³He also had him ride in a chariot. Joseph was now next in command after Pharaoh. People went in front of him and shouted, “Get down on your knees!”

By doing all of those things, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

⁴⁴Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. But without your word, no one will do anything in the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him a wife. She was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.

Joseph traveled all over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He left Pharaoh’s palace and traveled all over Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years when there was plenty of food, the land produced more than the people needed.

⁴⁸Joseph collected all of the extra food produced in those seven years in Egypt. He stored it in the cities. In each city he stored up the food that was grown in the fields around it. ⁴⁹Joseph stored up huge amounts of grain. It was like the sand of the sea. There was so much grain it couldn’t be measured. So Joseph stopped keeping records of it.

⁵⁰Before the years when there wasn’t enough food, two sons were born to Joseph. He had them by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.

⁵¹Joseph named his first son Manasseh. That’s because he said, “God has made me forget all of my trouble and my father’s whole family.”

⁵²He named the second son Ephraim. That’s because he said, “God has given me children in the land where I’ve suffered so much.”

⁵³The seven years when there was plenty of food in Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴Then the seven years when there wasn’t enough food began. It happened exactly as Joseph had said it would. There wasn’t enough food in any of the other lands. But in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

⁵⁵When all of the people of Egypt began to get hungry, they cried out to Pharaoh for food. He told all of the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”

⁵⁶There wasn’t enough food anywhere in the country. So Joseph opened the storerooms. He sold grain to the Egyptians because people were very hungry all over Egypt.

⁵⁷People from all of the other countries came to Egypt. They came to buy grain from Joseph. That’s because people were very hungry all over the world.

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