Two years passed in silence. Joseph remained in the dungeon, forgotten by men, but not by God. Then Pharaoh dreamed.
He was standing by the Nile when seven sleek, well-fed cows rose from the water and grazed among the reeds. After them came seven gaunt, ugly cows. They devoured the fat cows, yet looked just as gaunt as before. Pharaoh awoke in fear.
He drifted back to sleep, and again he dreamed: seven full heads of grain grew upon one stalk, but soon seven thin, scorched heads sprang up and swallowed the full ones. Pharaoh awoke—his spirit troubled.
At dawn, he summoned the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them the dreams, but none could unravel them.
Then the chief cupbearer remembered his guilt and spoke:
"Pharaoh, once when you were angry with your servants, the chief baker and I were imprisoned. There we met a young Hebrew servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he gave each of us its meaning. Everything happened exactly as he said: I was restored, and the baker was hanged."
Pharaoh at once sent for Joseph. They hurried him from the dungeon. Shaven and clothed, Joseph stood before Pharaoh.
"I have dreamed a dream," Pharaoh said, "and none can interpret it. But I hear you can."
Joseph bowed. "I cannot," he replied, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer."
Pharaoh repeated his dreams of the cows and the grain.
Then Joseph spoke:
"The dreams are one. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Seven years of abundance will come, followed by seven years of famine so severe that the years of plenty will be forgotten. The dream was doubled, because the matter has been firmly decided by God, and He will do it soon.
Therefore, let Pharaoh choose a discerning and wise man to oversee the land. Let him store up a fifth of the harvest during the good years, so that Egypt will have food in the time of famine."
The counsel pleased Pharaoh and his officials. Pharaoh turned to them and asked, "Can we find such a man—one in whom is the Spirit of God?"
He said to Joseph:
"Since God has revealed this to you, none is so wise as you. You shall be over my house; only the throne will be greater than you. I set you over all Egypt."
Pharaoh took off his signet ring and placed it on Joseph's finger. He robed him in fine linen, hung a gold chain upon his neck, and had him ride in the second chariot. Before him the heralds cried, "Bow the knee!"
Thus Joseph, once a slave, became ruler over the land of Egypt. Pharaoh named him Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as wife.
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered Pharaoh's service. Through the seven years of abundance, he gathered grain like the sand of the sea—so much that it could not be counted.
In those days, Asenath bore him two sons. He named the first Manasseh, saying, "God has made me forget my hardship and my father's house." The second he named Ephraim, saying, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
Then the seven years of famine came, just as Joseph had foretold. The famine spread across the nations, yet in Egypt there was bread. When the people cried to Pharaoh, he answered, "Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you."
And so all lands came to Egypt to buy grain, for the famine was harsh in all the world.