1And it came to pass at the end of two full years , that Pharaoh dreamed : and , behold , he stood by the river . 2And , behold , there came up out of the river seven kine , well-favored and fat-fleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass. 3And , behold , seven other kine came up after them out of the river , ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river . 4And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kine . So Pharaoh awoke . 5And he slept and dreamed a second time : and , behold , seven ears of grain came up upon one stalk , rank and good . 6And , behold , seven ears , thin and blasted with the east wind , sprung up after them. 7And the thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears . And Pharaoh awoke , and , behold , it was a dream . 8And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled ; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt , and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream ; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh . 9Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh , saying , I do remember my faults this day : 10Pharaoh was wroth with his servants , and put me in ward in the house of the captain of the guard , me and the chief baker: 11and we dreamed a dream in one night , I and he ; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream . 12And there was with us there a young man , a Hebrew , servant to the captain of the guard ; and we told him , and he interpreted to us our dreams ; to each man according to his dream he did interpret . 13And it came to pass , as he interpreted to us , so it was ; me he restored unto mine office , and him he hanged . 14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph , and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself , and changed his raiment , and came in unto Pharaoh . 15And Pharaoh said unto Joseph , I have dreamed a dream , and there is none that can interpret it : and I have heard say of thee , that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it . 16And Joseph answered Pharaoh , saying, It is not in me : God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace . 17And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph , In my dream , behold , I stood upon the brink of the river : 18and , behold , there came up out of the river seven kine , fat-fleshed and well-favored: and they fed in the reed-grass: 19and , behold , seven other kine came up after them , poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness : 20and the lean and ill-favored kine did eat up the first seven fat kine : 21and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them ; but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning . So I awoke . 22And I saw in my dream , and , behold , seven ears came up upon one stalk , full and good : 23and , behold , seven ears , withered , thin , and blasted with the east wind , sprung up after them: 24and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears : and I told it unto the magicians ; but there was none that could declare it to me . 25And Joseph said unto Pharaoh , The dream of Pharaoh is one : what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh . 26The seven good kine are seven years ; and the seven good ears are seven years : the dream is one . 27And the seven lean and ill-favored kine that came up after them are seven years , and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind ; they shall be seven years of famine . 28That is the thing which I spake unto Pharaoh : what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh . 29Behold , there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt : 30and there shall arise after them seven years of famine ; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt ; and the famine shall consume the land;
Joseph's Rise to Power
31and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous . 32And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh , it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass . 33Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise , and set him over the land of Egypt . 34Let Pharaoh do this , and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years . 35And let them gather all the food of these good years that come , and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities , and let them keep it . 36And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine , which shall be in the land of Egypt ; that the land perish not through the famine . 37And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh , and in the eyes of all his servants . 38And Pharaoh said unto his servants , Can we find such a one as this , a man in whom the spirit of God is ? 39And Pharaoh said unto Joseph , Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this , there is none so discreet and wise as thou : 40thou shalt be over my house , and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled : only in the throne will I be greater than thou . 41And Pharaoh said unto Joseph , See , I have set thee over all the land of Egypt . 42And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand , and put it upon Joseph ’s hand , and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen , and put a gold chain about his neck ; 43and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had ; and they cried before him , Bow the knee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt . 44And Pharaoh said unto Joseph , I am Pharaoh , and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt . 45And Pharaoh called Joseph ’s name Zaphenath-paneah ; and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On . And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt . 46And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt . And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh , and went throughout all the land of Egypt .
The Famine and Its Impact
47And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls . 48And 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 : the food of the field , which was round about every city , laid he up in the same . 49And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea , very much , until he left off numbering ; for it was without number . 50And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came , whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On , bare unto him . 51And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh : For , said he , God hath made me forget all my toil , and all my father’s house . 52And the name of the second called he Ephraim : For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction . 53And the seven years of plenty , that was in the land of Egypt , came to an end . 54And the seven years of famine began to come , according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread . 55And when all the land of Egypt was famished , the people cried to Pharaoh for bread : and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians , Go unto Joseph ; what he saith to you , do . 56And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians ; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt . 57And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain , because the famine was sore in all the earth.