Genesis 41:17-42

New King James Version

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, ^(A)in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. ²¹ When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven ^[a]heads came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴ And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So ^(B)I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^(C)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ^[b]heads are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are ^(D)seven years of famine. ^28 (E)This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed ^(F)seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will ^(G)arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine ^(H)will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the ^(I)thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ^[c]officers over the land, ^(J)to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And ^(K)let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the ^[d]authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ Then that food shall be as a ^[e]reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land ^(L)may not ^[f]perish during the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷ So ^(M)the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man ^(N)in whom is the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ^40 (O)You shall be ^[g]over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have ^(P)set you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴² Then Pharaoh ^(Q)took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he ^(R)clothed him in garments of fine linen ^(S)and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in the second ^(T)chariot which he had; ^(U)and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him ^(V)over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name ^[h]Zaphnath-Paaneah. And he gave him as a wife ^(W)Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he ^(X)stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth ^[i]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered very much grain, ^(Y)as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.

^50 (Z)And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn ^[j]Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my ^(AA)father’s house.” ⁵² And the name of the second he called ^[k]Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be ^(AB)fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, ^54 (AC)and the seven years of famine began to come, ^(AD)as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^(AE)whatever he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened ^[l]all the storehouses and ^(AF)sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. ^57 (AG)So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to ^(AH)buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

42 When ^(AI)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may ^(AJ)live and not die.”

³ So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ^(AK)“Lest some calamity befall him.” ⁵ And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was ^(AL)in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Joseph was governor ^(AM)over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(AN)bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as ^(AO)a stranger to them and spoke ^[m]roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”

And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then Joseph ^(AP)remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the ^[n]nakedness of the land!”

¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”

¹² But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³ And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one ^(AQ)is no more.”

¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ In this manner you shall be tested: ^(AR)By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be ^[o]kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” ¹⁷ So he ^[p]put them all together in prison ^(AS)three days.