Genesis 41
1 And it comes to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and behold, he is standing by 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 behold, from the River coming up are seven cows, of beautiful appearance, and fat [in] flesh, and they feed among the reeds;
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 and behold, seven other cows are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean [in] flesh, and they stand near the cows on the edge 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 cows of bad appearance and lean [in] flesh eat up the seven cows of beautiful appearance, and fat—and Pharaoh awakens.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 And he sleeps, and dreams a second time, and behold, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat 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 an east wind, are springing 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 thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears—and Pharaoh awakens, and behold, 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 comes to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sends and calls all the enchanters of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounts to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh.
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 of the butlers speaks with Pharaoh, saying, “I mention my sin this day:
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 Pharaoh has been angry against his servants, and puts me in confinement in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers;
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 dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 And there [is] with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interprets to us our dreams, [to] each according to his dream has he interpreted,
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 comes to pass, as he has interpreted to us so it has been, me he put back on my station, and him he 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 Pharaoh sends and calls Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaves, and changes his garments, and comes to Pharaoh.
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 Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it, and I have heard concerning you, saying, You understand a dream to interpret it,”
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 answers Pharaoh, saying, “Without me—God answers Pharaoh with peace.”
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 Pharaoh speaks to Joseph: “In my dream, behold, I am standing by the edge of the River,
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 and behold, out of the River coming up are seven cows, fat [in] flesh, and of beautiful form, and they feed among the reeds;
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 are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean [in] flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness.
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 lean and the bad cows eat up the first seven fat cows,
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 and they come in to their midst, and it has not been known that they have come in to their midst, and their appearance [is] bad as at the commencement; and I awake.
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 I see in my dream, and behold, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, 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 behold, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after 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 thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell [it] to the enchanters, and there is none declaring [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 says to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he has declared to Pharaoh;
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 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 and bad cows which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are 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 this [is] the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is doing.
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Behold, seven years are coming of great abundance 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 and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine has finished 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 is not known in the land because of that famine afterward, for it [is] very grievous.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 And because of the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hurrying to do 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 And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, 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 let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of 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 they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up grain under the hand of Pharaoh—food in the cities; and they have kept [it],
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 food has been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off 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 thing is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants,
The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
38 and Pharaoh says to his servants, “Do we find like this, a man in whom the Spirit of God [is]?”
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 Pharaoh says to Joseph, “After God’s causing you to know all this, there is none intelligent and wise as you;
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 you are over my house, and at your mouth do all my people kiss; only in the throne I am greater than you.”
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 Pharaoh says to Joseph, “See, I have put you 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 Pharaoh turns aside his seal-ring from off his hand, and puts it on the hand of Joseph, and clothes him [with] garments of fine linen, and places a chain of gold on 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 causes him to ride in the second chariot which he has, and they proclaim before him, “Bow the knee!” 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 Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I [am] Pharaoh, and without you a man does not lift up his hand and his foot in 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 Pharaoh calls Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he gives to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goes out over the land of Egypt.
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 [is] a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph goes out from the presence of Pharaoh, and passes over 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 makes in the seven years of plenty by handfuls.
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 And he gathers all the food of the seven years which have been in the land of Egypt, and puts food in the cities; the food of the field which [is] around [each] city has he put in its midst;
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 gathers grain as sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until he has ceased to number, for there is no number.
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 year of famine comes, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, has borne to him,
Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
51 and Joseph calls the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me to forget all my labor, and all the house of my father”;
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 the name of the second he has called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
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 are completed which have been in the land of Egypt,
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt has been 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 is famished, and the people cry to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh says to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; that which he says to you—do.”
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 has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph opens all [places] which have [grain] in them, and sells to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt,
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 the earth has come to Egypt, to buy, to Joseph, for the famine was severe 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].
