Genesis 41
1 Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile;
After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,
2 And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.
3 And after them seven other cows came out of the Nile, poor-looking and thin; and they were by the side of the other cows.
Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:
4 And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.
And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.
5 But he went to sleep again and had a second dream, in which he saw seven heads of grain, full and good, all on one stem.
He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair:
6 And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.
Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,
7 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.
And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest:
8 And in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and all the holy men, and put his dream before them, but no one was able to give him the sense of it.
And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.
9 Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now;
Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:
10 Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker;
The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers:
11 And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.
Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.
12 And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant, and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of them.
There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,
13 And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.
And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet.
14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh.
Forthwith at the king’s command, Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him, and changing his apparel, brought him in to him.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and no one is able to give me the sense of it; now it has come to my ears that you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before you.
And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them.
16 Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.
17 Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,
18 And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.
19 Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt;
And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:
20 And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first;
And they devoured and consumed the former,
21 And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.
And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,
22 And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem:
And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.
23 And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stock:
24 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the seven good heads; and I put this dream before the wise men, but not one of them was able to give me the sense of it.
And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.
25 Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Joseph answered: The king’s dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.
26 The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense.
The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.
27 The seven thin and poor-looking cows who came up after them are seven years; and the seven heads of grain, dry and wasted by the east wind, are seven years when there will be no food.
And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:
28 As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do.
Which shall be fulfilled in this order:
29 Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt;
Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:
30 And after that will come seven years when there will not be enough food; and the memory of the good years will go from men's minds; and the land will be made waste by the bad years;
After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,
31 And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.
And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.
32 And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.
33 And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.
Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land in the good years.
That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,
35 And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.
That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao’s hands and be reserved in the cities.
36 And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.
And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed with scarcity.
37 And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?
39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good sense as you:
He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?
40 You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you.
Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.
42 Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck;
And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.
43 And he made him take his seat in the second of his carriages; and they went before him crying, Make way! So he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.
And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, the priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph went through all the land of Egypt.
And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:
46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
(Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao) and he went round all the countries of Egypt.
47 Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corn being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.
48 And Joseph got together all the food of those seven years, and made a store of food in the towns: the produce of the fields round every town was stored up in the town.
And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.
49 So he got together a store of grain like the sand of the sea; so great a store that after a time he gave up measuring it, for it might not be measured.
And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.
50 And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.
And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore unto him.
51 And to the first he gave the name Manasseh, for he said, God has taken away from me all memory of my hard life and of my father's house.
And he called the name of the firstborn Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father’s house.
52 And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.
53 And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past:
54 Then came the first of the seven years of need as Joseph had said: and in every other land they were short of food; but in the land of Egypt there was bread.
The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was in need of food, the people came crying to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to the people, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do it.
And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.
56 And everywhere on the earth they were short of food; then Joseph, opening all his store-houses, gave the people of Egypt grain for money; so great was the need of food in the land of Egypt.
And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.
57 And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.
And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.
