Genesis 41
1 And it came to pass after two full years that Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood upon [the bank of] the river.
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 And lo, there came up as it were out of the river seven cows, fair in appearance, and choice of flesh, and they fed on the sedge.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 And other seven cows came up after these out of the river, ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, and fed by the [other] cows on the bank of the river.
Soon seven other cows, unhealthy-looking and thin, came up behind them from the Nile [River]. They stood alongside the fat cows that were on the riverbank.
4 And the seven ill-favoured and lean cows devoured the seven well-favoured and choice-fleshed cows; and Pharao awoke.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 And he dreamed again. And, behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, choice and good.
The king went to sleep again, and he had another dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain that were full of kernels of grain and ripe, and all growing on one stalk.
6 And, behold, seven ears thin and blasted with the wind, grew up after them.
After that, the king saw that seven other heads of grain sprouted on that (OR, on another) stalk. They were thin and had been dried up by the hot east wind.
7 And the seven thin ears and blasted with the wind devoured the seven choice and full ears; and Pharao awoke, and it was a dream.
Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven ripe full heads. Then the king woke up. He realized that he had been dreaming.
8 And it was morning, and his soul was troubled; and he sent and called all the interpreters of Egypt, and all her wise men; and Pharao related to them his dream, and there was no one to interpret it to Pharao.
But the next morning he was worried about the meaning of the dream. So he summoned all the magicians and wise men who lived in Egypt. He told them what he had dreamed, but none of them could tell him the meaning of the two dreams.
9 And the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharao, saying, I this day remember my fault:
Then the chief drink-server said to the king, “Now I remember something that I should have told you! I made a mistake by forgetting to tell it to you.
10 Pharao was angry with his servants, and put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker.
One time you were angry with two of us. So you put me and the chief baker in the prison in the house of the captain of the palace guards.
11 And we had a dream both in one night, I and he; we saw, each according to his dream.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew servant of the captain of the guard; and we related to him [our dreams], and he interpreted [them] to us.
There was a young Hebrew man there with us. He was a servant of the captain of the palace guards. We told him what we had dreamed, and he told us what our dreams meant. He told each of us the meaning of our dreams.
13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted them to us, so also it happened, both that I was restored to my office, and that he was hanged.
And what happened was exactly the same as the meanings that he told us: You said I could have my previous job again, but the other man was killed by being hanged. [The Hebrew man’s name was Joseph].”
14 And Pharao having sent, called Joseph; and they brought him out from the prison, and shaved him, and changed his dress, and he came to Pharao.
When the king heard that, he told some servants to bring Joseph to him, and they quickly brought Joseph out of the prison. Joseph shaved and put on better clothes, and then he went and stood in front of the king.
15 And Pharao said to Joseph, I have seen a vision, and there is no one to interpret it; but I have heard say concerning thee that thou didst hear dreams and interpret them.
The king said to Joseph, “I had two dreams, and no one can tell me what they mean. But someone told me that when you hear someone tell about a dream he has had, you can tell that person what the dream means.”
16 And Joseph answered Pharao and said, Without God an answer of safety shall not be given to Pharao.
But Joseph replied to the king, “No, I cannot do that. It is God who knows the meaning of dreams, but he will enable me to tell you their meaning, and they will mean something good.”
17 And Pharao spoke to Joseph, saying, In my dream methought I stood by the bank of the river;
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 and there came up as it were out of the river, seven cows well-favoured and choice-fleshed, and they fed on the sedge.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 And behold seven other cows came up after them out of the river, evil and ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, such that I never saw worse in all the land of Egypt.
Soon seven other cows, ugly and thin ones, came up behind them from the river. I never saw such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!
20 And the seven ill-favoured and thin cows ate up the seven first good and choice cows.
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 And they went into their bellies; and it was not perceptible that they had gone into their bellies, and their appearance was ill-favoured, as also at the beginning; and after I awoke I slept,
But afterwards, no one would have known that the thin cows ate them, because they were just as ugly as they were before. Then I woke up.
22 and saw again in my sleep, and as it were seven ears came up on one stem, full and good.
Then I had another dream. I saw seven heads of grain. They were full of kernels of grain and ripe, and they were all growing on one stalk.
23 And other seven ears, thin and blasted with the wind, sprang up close to them.
Then [to my surprise] I saw seven other heads of grain that sprouted. They were thin and had been dried up by the hot east wind.
24 And the seven thin and blasted ears devoured the seven fine and full ears: so I spoke to the interpreters, and there was no one to explain it to me.
The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain to me what they meant.”
25 And Joseph said to Pharao, The dream of Pharao is one; whatever God does, he has shewn to Pharao.
Then Joseph said to the king, “Both your dreams have the same meaning. God is revealing to you in your dreams what he is about to do.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream of Pharao is one.
The seven healthy cows represent seven years. The seven good heads of grain also represent seven years. The two dreams both have the same meaning.
27 And the seven thin kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven thin and blasted ears are seven years; there shall be seven years of famine.
The seven thin ugly cows that came up behind them and the seven worthless heads of grain that were dried up by the hot east wind each represent seven years (of famine/when food will be very scarce).
28 And as for the word which I have told Pharao, whatsoever God intends to do, he has shewn to Pharao:
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 behold, for seven years there is coming great plenty in all the land of Egypt.
There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
30 But there shall come seven years of famine after these, and they shall forget the plenty that shall be in all Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land.
but after that there will be seven years (of famine/when food will be very scarce). Then people will forget all the years when there was plenty of food, because the famine that will come afterward will ruin the country.
31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine that shall be after this, for it shall be very grievous.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 And concerning the repetition of the dream to Pharao twice, [it is] because the saying which is from God shall be true, and God will hasten to accomplish it.
The reason God gave to you two dreams is that he [wants you to know] that this will happen, and he will cause it to happen very soon.
33 Now then, look out a wise and prudent man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
“Now I suggest that you should choose a man who is wise and can make good decisions. I suggest that you appoint him to direct the affairs of the whole country.
34 And let Pharao make and appoint local governors over the land; and let them take up a fifth part of all the produce of the land of Egypt for the seven years of the plenty.
You should also appoint supervisors over the country, in order that they can arrange to collect one-fifth of all the grain that is harvested during the seven years when food is plentiful.
35 And let them gather all the food of these seven good years that are coming, and let the corn be gathered under the hand of Pharao; let food be kept in the cities.
They should collect this amount of grain during those seven years that are coming, when there will be plenty of food. You should supervise them as they store it in the cities.
36 And the stored food shall be for the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; and the land shall not be utterly destroyed by the famine.
This grain should be stored so that it can be eaten during the seven years when there will be a famine here in Egypt, so that the people in this country will not die from hunger.”
37 And the word was pleasing in the sight of Pharao, and in the sight of all his servants.
The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
38 And Pharao said to all his servants, Shall we find such a man as this, who has the Spirit of God in him?
So the king said to them, “(Can we find any other man like Joseph, a man to whom God has given his Spirit?/It is not likely that we will find another man like this man, one to whom God has given his Spirit!)” [RHQ]
39 And Pharao said to Joseph, Since God has shewed thee all these things, there is not a wiser or more prudent man than thou.
Then the king said to Joseph, “Because God has revealed all this to you, it seems to me that there is no one who is as wise as you and who can decide wisely about things.
40 Thou shalt be over my house, and all my people shall be obedient to thy word; only in the throne will I excel thee.
So I will put you in charge of everything in my palace. All the people here in Egypt must obey what you command. Only because I am king [MTY] will I have more authority than you.”
41 And Pharao said to Joseph, Behold, I set thee this day over all the land of Egypt.
Then the king said to Joseph, “I am now putting you in charge of the whole country of Egypt.”
42 And Pharao took his ring off his hand, and put it on the hand of Joseph, and put on him a robe of fine linen, and put a necklace of gold about his neck.
The king took from his finger the ring that had his seal on it, and he put it on Joseph’s finger. He put robes made of fine linen on him, and he put a gold chain around his neck.
43 And he mounted him on the second of his chariots, and a herald made proclamation before him; and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
Then he arranged for Joseph to ride around in the chariot [that showed that he was] the second-most important man in the country. When Joseph rode in the chariot, men shouted to the people who were on the road in front of him, “Get off the road!” So the king put Joseph in charge of everything in the country.
44 And Pharao said to Joseph, I am Pharao; without thee no one shall lift up his hand on all the land of Egypt.
The king said to Joseph, “I am the king, but no one in the whole land of Egypt will do anything [IDM] if you do not permit them to do it.”
45 And Pharao called the name of Joseph, Psonthomphanech; and he gave him Aseneth, the daughter of Petephres, priest of Heliopolis, to wife.
The king gave Joseph a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave him Asenath to be his wife. She was the daughter of Potiphera, who was a priest in a temple in On [city]. Then Joseph became known (OR, traveled) through all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharao, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharao, and went through all the land of Egypt.
Joseph was 30 years old when he started to work for the king of Egypt. To do his work, he left the king’s palace and traveled throughout Egypt.
47 And the land produced, in the seven years of plenty, [whole] handfuls [of corn].
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years, in which was the plenty in the land of Egypt; and he laid up the food in the cities; the food of the fields of a city round about it he laid up in it.
As Joseph supervised them, his helpers collected one-fifth of all the grain that was produced during those years, and stored it in the cities. In each city, he had his helpers store up the grain that was grown in the fields that surrounded that city.
49 And Joseph gathered very much corn as the sand of the sea, until it could not be numbered, for there was no number [of it].
Joseph had them store up a huge amount of grain. It looked as plentiful as the sand on the seashore. There was so much grain that after a while they stopped keeping records of how much grain was stored, because there was more grain than they could measure.
50 And to Joseph were born two sons, before the seven years of famine came, which Aseneth, the daughter of Petephres, priest of Heliopolis, bore to him.
Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born, Manasse; for God, [said he], has made me forget all my toils, and all my father's house.
Joseph named the first one Manasseh, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘forget]’, because, he said, “God has caused me to forget all my troubles and all my father’s family.”
52 And he called the name of the second, Ephraim; for God, [said he], has increased me in the land of my humiliation.
He named his second son Ephraim, [which means ‘to have children]’, because, he said, “God has given me children here in this land where I have suffered.”
53 And the seven years of plenty passed away, which were in the land of Egypt.
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph said; and there was a famine in all the land; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
Then the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. There was also a famine in all the other nearby lands, but although the crops did not grow, there was food everywhere in Egypt, because of the grain they had stored up in the cities.
55 And all the land of Egypt was hungry; and the people cried to Pharao for bread. And Pharao said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph, and do whatsoever he shall tell you.
When all the people of [MTY] Egypt had eaten all of their own food and were still hungry, they begged the king for food. So the king told all the people of Egypt, “Go to Joseph, and do what he tells you to do.”
56 And the famine was on the face of all the earth; and Joseph opened all the granaries, and sold to all the Egyptians.
When the famine was very bad throughout the whole country, Joseph ordered his helpers to open the storehouses. Then they sold the grain in the storehouses to the people of Egypt, because the famine was very severe all over Egypt.
57 And all countries came to Egypt to buy of Joseph, for the famine prevailed in all the earth.
And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
