46. Joseph was thirty when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king.
47. For seven years there were big harvests of grain.
48. Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested.
49. In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.
50. Joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began.
51. Their first son was named Manasseh, which means, “God has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home.”
52. His second son was named Ephraim, which means “God has made me a success in the land where I suffered.”
53. Egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end,
54. and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was not enough food in other countries, but all over Egypt there was plenty.
55. When the famine finally struck Egypt, the people asked the king for food, but he said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.”
56. The famine became bad everywhere in Egypt, so Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the Egyptians.
57. People from all over the world came to Egypt, because the famine was severe in their countries.