< 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.
2 And look, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
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.
4 The miserable-looking and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 And he slept and dreamed a second time. And look, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.
6 Then look, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprouted up after them.
7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up, and look, 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.
9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.
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.
11 We had a dream on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.
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.
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."
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.
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."
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "Apart from God, the welfare of Pharaoh will receive no answer. "
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, look, I stood on the edge of the Nile.
18 And look, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.
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.
20 The thin and miserable-looking cows ate up the first seven fat cows.
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.
22 And I fell asleep, and I saw in my dream, and look, seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good.
23 And look, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprouted 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."
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has told 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.
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.
28 It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29 Look, seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of 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,
31 and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows it, for it will be very severe.
32 Now the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the matter has been fixed by God, and God will carry it out soon.
33 Now therefore Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man, and give him 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.
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.
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."
37 The proposal was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of 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?"
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise 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."
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Look, I have put you in charge 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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large harvests.
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.
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.
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.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
53 And the seven years of abundance that occurred in the land of 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.
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."
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.
57 And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
