Genesis 41
1 And it came to pass at the end of two years of days, that, Pharaoh, was dreaming, when lo! he was standing by the river (Nile);
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 and lo! from the river, were coming up seven heifers, comely in appearance and fat in flesh, —and they fed among the rushes.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 And lo! seven heifers more coming up after them out of the river, uncomely in appearance and lean in flesh, —and they came and stood beside the heifers, by the lip 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 Then did the heifers that were uncomely in appearance, and lean in flesh, eat up, the seven heifers that were comely in appearance and fat. So Pharaoh awoke.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 And he fell asleep, and dreamed a second time, when lo! seven ears, 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 lo! seven ears, lean and shrivelled by an east wind, coming 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 Then did the lean ears swallow up the seven fat and full ears. So Pharaoh awoke and lo! 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 came to pass in the morning, that his spirit became restless, so he sent and called for all the sacred scribes of Egypt and all her wise men, —and Pharaoh related to them his dreams, but there was no one that could interpret 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 Then spake the chief of the butlers with Pharaoh saying, My faults, would, I, mention 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, was wroth with his servants, —and put them in the ward of the house of the chief of the royal 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 Then must we needs dream, a dream in one night, I and he, —each man, according to the interpretation of his dream, did we dream.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 And, there with us, was a young man, a Hebrew servant to the chief of the royal executioners, and we related to him, and he interpreted to us our dreams, —to each man—according to his dream, did he interpret,
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 to us, so, it happened, —me, he restored to mine office but 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 Then sent Pharaoh and summoned Joseph, and they hastened him out of the dungeon, —so he shaved himself and changed his garments, and came in unto 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 said unto Joseph, A dream, have I dreamed, but none can interpret it, —but, I, have heard say concerning thee, that on hearing a dream, thou canst 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 answered Pharaoh saying, Not to me, doth it pertain! May, God grant in answer, the prosperity of Pharaoh!
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 Then spake Pharaoh unto Joseph, —In my dream, there was I, standing on the lip of the river;
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 When lo! out of the river, were coming up seven heifers, fat in flesh and comely in form, —and they fed among the rushes.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 And lo! seven other heifers, coming up after them, poor and very uncomely in form and lean in flesh, —I had never seen such in all the land of Egypt, for uncomeliness.
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 Then did the lean and uncomely heifers eat up the first seven fat heifers;
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 and they passed into their stomach yet could it not be known that they had passed into them, their appearance, being uncomely, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
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 Then looked I in my dream, —And lo! seven ears, 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 lo! seven ears, withered lean shrivelled by an east wind growing 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 Then did the lean ears swallow up, the seven good ears. So I told [these things] unto the sacred scribes, but there was none that could explain [them] 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 Then said Joseph unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh, is, one. What God is about to do hath he announced 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 heifers, 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 lean and uncomely heifers that were coming up after them, are seven years, and the seven lean ears, shrivelled by an east wind, will turn out to 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 The very word that I spake unto Pharaoh, what, God, is about to do, hath he showed unto Pharaoh.
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Lo! seven years, coming in, —of 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 Then shall arise seven years of famine, after them, so shall be forgotten all the plenty in the land of 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 neither shall the plenty in the land be discernible, because of that famine coming after, —for it shall be, very severe.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 And for that there was a repeating of the dream unto Pharaoh, twice, it is because the thing, is established, from God, and God is hastening 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 Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look out a man discreet 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 do this, that he may appoint overseers over the land, —so shall he take up a fifth of the land of Egypt, during 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 let them gather up all the food of these seven good years that are coming in, —and let them heap up corn under the hand of Pharaoh as food in cities so shall they keep 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 So shall the food become a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which shall come about in the land of Egypt, —and the land shall not be cut off in 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 was 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 said unto his servants, —Can we find such a one, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?
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 So Pharaoh said unto Joseph, After God hath made known unto thee all this, there is no one discreet and wise like thee.
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 on thy mouth, shall all my people kiss, —only as to the throne, will I be greater than thou.
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 said unto Joseph, —See, I have set thee 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 So Pharaoh took his ring from off his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand, —and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put the chain of gold upon 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 made him ride in the second chariot which belonged to him, and they cried out before him. Bow the knee! thus setting 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 said unto Joseph. I, am Pharaoh, Without thee, therefore shall no man raise his hand or 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 called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah, and gave him Asenath daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, to wife, —and Joseph went forth 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 Now, Joseph, was thirty years old, when he took his station, before Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Joseph went forth from before Pharaoh, and passed along 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, by handfuls,
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years in which there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and laid up food in cities—the food of the fields of the city. which were round about it, laid he up within 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 Thus did Joseph heap up corn like the sand of the sea making it exceeding abundant, —until one hath left off reckoning, because it cannot be reckoned.
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 Now to Joseph, were born two sons, ere yet came in the year of famine, —whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, bare 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 firstborn Manasseh, —For God hath made me forget all my trouble, 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, called he Ephraim, For God hath made me fruitful 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 Then came to an end the seven years of the plenty, —which was 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 in, according as Joseph had said, —and it came to pass that there was a famine in all the lands, 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 Yet was famine felt in all the land of Egypt, and the people made outcry; unto Pharaoh for bread, —and Pharaoh said to all Egypt, —Go ye unto Joseph, that which he saith to you, shall ye 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 Now, the famine, was over all the face of the land, —so Joseph opened all [places] wherein it was and sold corn to the Egyptians, and the famine laid fast hold of 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 All the earth also, came in to Egypt to buy corn, unto Joseph, —because the famine had laid fast hold on 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].
