Pharaoh Appoints Joseph as Regent

³⁷ What Joseph proposed pleased Pharaoh and all of his advisors, ³⁸ so Pharaoh asked his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this—someone in whom the Spirit of God lives? ³⁹ Since God has revealed all of this to you,” Pharaoh told Joseph, “there is no one so wise and discerning as you. ⁴⁰ So you are to be appointed in charge over my palace, and all of my people are to do whatever you command them to do. Only the throne will have greater authority than you.”

⁴¹ “Look!” Pharaoh confirmed^[a] to Joseph, “I’ve put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt!”

⁴² Then Pharaoh^[b] removed his signet ring from his hand, placed it on Joseph’s hand, had him clothed in fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he provided him with a chariot as his second-in-command, outfitted with a group of people who shouted out in front of him, “Bow your knees!” And that’s how Pharaoh set Joseph over the entire land of Egypt.

Pharaoh Rewards Joseph

⁴⁴ Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I’m still Pharaoh, but without your permission nobody in all of the land of Egypt will so much as lift up their hands or take a step!” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh also changed Joseph’s name to Zaphenath-paneah^[c] and gave Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, to him as his wife. And that’s how Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

Joseph Begins Gathering Grain

⁴⁶ Joseph was 30 years old when he began to serve Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by traveling throughout the land of Egypt, independent from Pharaoh’s oversight.^{[d] 47} While bumper crops grew during the seven abundant years, ⁴⁸ Joseph^[e] collected the surplus food throughout the land of Egypt, storing food in cities; that is, he gathered the food from fields that surrounded every city and stored it there. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up so much grain—like sand on the seashore in so much abundance!—that he stopped keeping records because it was proving to be impossible to measure how much they were gathering.