Genesis 41
1 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and look, he was standing by the Nile.
Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile;
2 And look, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
3 And look, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, miserable-looking and thin, and stood by the other cows at the edge of the Nile.
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.
4 The miserable-looking and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.
5 And he slept and dreamed a second time. And look, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.
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.
6 Then look, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprouted up after them.
And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.
7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up, and look, it was a dream.
And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.
8 It happened in the morning that his mind was troubled, so he summoned all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
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.
9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.
Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now;
10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.
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;
11 We had a dream on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.
And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.
12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guards, and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams to us, to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
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.
13 And it happened just the way he interpreted them to us, so it was: I was restored to my office, and he was hanged."
And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.
14 Then Pharaoh summoned Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the pit. And he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh.
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.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, but there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said about you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."
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.
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "Apart from God, the welfare of Pharaoh will receive no answer. "
Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, look, I stood on the edge of the Nile.
Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 And look, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.
And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
19 And look, seven other cows came up after them, scrawny and very miserable-looking and thin. I had never seen such bad-looking cows in all the land of Egypt.
Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt;
20 The thin and miserable-looking cows ate up the first seven fat cows.
And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first;
21 But when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as miserable-looking as at the beginning. Then I woke up.
And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.
22 And I fell asleep, and I saw in my dream, and look, seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good.
And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem:
23 And look, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprouted up after them.
And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
24 And the seven thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. And I told it to the magicians, but no one could tell me its meaning."
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.
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has told Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. The dreams are the same.
The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense.
27 And the seven thin and miserable-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind. They are seven years of famine.
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.
28 It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do.
29 Look, seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt.
Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt;
30 But after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate the land,
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;
31 and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows it, for it will be very severe.
And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.
32 Now the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the matter has been fixed by God, and God will carry it out soon.
And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
33 Now therefore Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man, and give him authority over the land of Egypt.
And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.
34 Pharaoh should do this, and should appoint overseers over the land, and they should take a fifth of all the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
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.
35 They should gather all the food during these good years that are coming and store the grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and they should preserve it.
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.
36 That food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will come on the land of Egypt, so that the land will survive the famine."
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.
37 The proposal was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38 Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"
Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
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:
40 You will be in charge of my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you."
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.
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Look, I have put you in charge over all the land of Egypt."
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck.
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;
43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had, and they called out before him, "Bow the knee. " So he put him in charge over the entire land of Egypt.
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.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one will do anything or go anywhere in all the land of Egypt."
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.
45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-Paneah. And he gave him Asenath the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as a wife. So Joseph went out through the land of Egypt.
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.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph left the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
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.
47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large harvests.
Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 And he collected all the food during the seven years when there was abundance in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He placed in every city the food from the fields surrounding it.
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.
49 Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, because it could not be measured.
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.
50 To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."
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.
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
53 And the seven years of abundance that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end.
And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
54 Then the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was food.
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.
55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh said to all Egypt, "Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, do."
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.
56 So the famine was over all the surface of the land. Then Joseph opened all the storehouses of grain and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
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.
57 And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.
