Through My Bible Year 03 – April 20

Genesis 41:14-57

genesis 41

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh called for Joseph, and they immediately brought him out of prison. Joseph shaved his head, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have seen a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. I have heard about you that you can listen to a dream and tell its meaning.

¹⁶ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not in my power. God will answer to give Pharaoh peace of mind.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I dreamed that I was standing on the bank of a river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven fat, beautiful cows came out of the river and started grazing in the marshy grass. ¹⁹ Just then seven poor cattle, very ugly and thin, came following them. They were uglier than anything I had seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin, ugly cattle ate the first seven cattle, the fat cattle, ²¹ And when they ate them, you couldn’t even know that they ate them, because they were still as ugly as they were in the beginning. then I woke up.

²² “Later I had another dream, in which I saw seven ears of grain growing on one stalk. They were full and good. ²³ Then I saw seven ears of grain growing behind them. They dried up, became thin, and were destroyed by the east wind. ²⁴ The thin ears of grain were swallowed by seven good ears of grain. I told the magicians about the dream, but there was no one who could tell me its meaning.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh has only one dream, God has told Pharaoh what he is going to do. ²⁶ Seven good animals are seven years old, and seven good ears of grain are also seven years old. it’s a dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly animals that came after them were seven years old, and also seven empty ears of grain blown by the east wind. Those will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the same thing that I told Pharaoh, that God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Look, there is going to be a great abundance throughout Egypt in seven years. ³⁰ After them there will be a famine of seven years, and all the prosperity of the land of Egypt will be forgotten. Famine will destroy the land, ³¹ And because of the famine in that country, its abundance will not be remembered, because it will be very heavy. ³² The double dream was shown to Pharaoh, because this thing is established by God, and God will soon bring it to pass.”

Joseph came to power

³³ “So let Pharaoh find a wise and understanding man and appoint him ruler over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ When Pharaoh does this, he is to appoint overseers over the land to collect one-fifth of Egypt’s produce during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them collect all this food from these good years to come. Gather grain for Pharaoh’s possession to feed the cities, and let him store it. ³⁶ This food will be stored in the land for the seven years of famine in the land of Egypt, lest the country be destroyed because of the famine.”

³⁷ This plan appealed to Pharaoh and all his officials. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his officials, Can we find another man like this man, who has the Spirit of God?

³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, God has shown you all this, so there is no one as wise and intelligent as you. ⁴⁰ You will be in charge of my house, and all my people will be under your word. Only in relation to the throne will I be superior to you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, Look, I have made you ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁴² Pharaoh took his ring off his hand and placed it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in the finest linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He made him sit on the second best chariot he had. The men rushed forward shouting, “Kneel!” ⁽¹⁾ Pharaoh appointed him ruler over the entire country of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, but no one in all the land of Egypt will lift up his hand or foot without your permission. ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Peneh, and gave Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Joseph went out and began ruling the country of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph went out from Pharaoh and traveled throughout the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ The earth produced a bountiful harvest during the seven years of abundance. ⁴⁸ He collected all the food in the land of Egypt during seven good years, and stored the food in the cities. In every city he collected food from the fields around the city. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered grain as large as the sand of the sea. Eventually he stopped keeping track because it was too much to measure.

⁵⁰ Before the first year of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, gave birth to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, because he said, God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father’s house. ^{(2) 52} He named his second son Ephraim. He said, “Yes, God has made me fruitful in the land where I used to suffer.” ⁽³⁾

⁵³ Thus, seven years of prosperity of Egypt ended. ⁵⁴ Just as Joseph had said, a seven-year famine began. There was famine in every country, but there was bread throughout the land of Egypt. ⁵⁵ When the whole of Egypt was dying of hunger, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph, do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ Famine spread all over the earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. There was a severe famine in Egypt. ⁵⁷ The whole world started coming to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because there was a severe famine all over the world.