Genesis 41
1 Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river.
2 Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fine-looking and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed-grass.
3 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.
And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, bad-looking and lean-fleshed, and stood by the kine on the bank of the river.
4 Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
And the kine that were bad-looking and lean-fleshed ate up the seven kine that were fine-looking and fat. And Pharaoh awoke.
5 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.
And he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of corn grew up on one stalk, fat and good.
6 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.
And behold, seven ears, thin and parched with the east wind, sprung up after them.
7 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.
And the thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke; and behold, it was a dream.
8 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.
And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the scribes of Egypt, and all the sages who were therein, and Pharaoh told them his dream; but [there was] none to interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 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.
Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day.
10 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.
Pharaoh was wroth with his bondmen, and put me in custody into the captain of the life-guard's house, me and the chief of the bakers.
11 While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each according to the interpretation of his dream.
12 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.
And there was there with us a Hebrew youth, a bondman of the captain of the life-guard, to whom we told [them], and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each he interpreted according to his dream.
13 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].”
And it came to pass, just as he interpreted to us, so it came about: me has he restored to my office, and him he hanged.
14 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.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph; and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved [himself], and changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh.
15 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.”
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamt a dream, and there is none to interpret it. And I have heard say of thee, thou understandest a dream to interpret it.
16 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.”
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
17 The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the river.
18 Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they fed in the reed-grass.
19 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!
And behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor, and very ill-formed, and lean-fleshed — such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness.
20 The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
And the lean and bad kine ate up the seven first fat kine;
21 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.
and they came into their belly, and it could not be known that they had come into their belly; and their look was bad, as at the beginning. And I awoke.
22 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.
And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good.
23 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.
And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, parched with the east wind, sprung up after them;
24 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.”
and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told it to the scribes; but there was none to make it known to me.
25 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.
And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God will do he has made known to Pharaoh.
26 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.
The seven fine kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27 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).
And the seven lean and bad kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears, parched with the east wind, will be seven years of famine.
28 It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh: what God is about to do he has let Pharaoh see.
29 There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout the land of Egypt.
30 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.
And there will arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will waste away the land.
31 The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
And the plenty will not be known afterwards in the land by reason of that famine; for it will be very grievous.
32 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.
And as regards the double repetition of the dream to Pharaoh, it is that the thing is established by God, and God will hasten to do it.
33 “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.
And now let Pharaoh look himself out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 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.
Let Pharaoh do [this]: let him appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty,
35 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.
and let them gather all the food of these coming good years, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, for food in the cities, and keep [it].
36 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.”
And let the food be as store for the land for the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine.
37 The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his bondmen.
38 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]
And Pharaoh said to his bondmen, Shall we find [one] as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
39 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.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has made all this known to thee, there is none [so] discreet and wise as thou.
40 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.”
Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy commandment shall all my people regulate themselves; only concerning the throne will I be greater than thou.
41 Then the king said to Joseph, “I am now putting you in charge of the whole country of Egypt.”
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
42 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.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in clothes of byssus, and put a gold chain on his neck.
43 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.
And he caused him to ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee! and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 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.”
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 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.
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him as wife Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46 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.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh, and passed through the whole land of Egypt.
47 During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
And in the seven years of plenty the land brought forth by handfuls.
48 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.
And he gathered up all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities; the food of the fields of the city, which were round about it, he laid up in it.
49 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.
And Joseph laid up corn as sand of the sea exceeding much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number.
50 Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On bore to him.
51 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.”
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh — For God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
52 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.”
And the name of the second he called Ephraim — For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53 Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
And the seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt were ended;
54 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.
and the seven years of the dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And there was dearth in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 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.”
And all the land of Egypt suffered from the dearth. And the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph: what he says to you, that do.
56 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.
And the famine was on all the earth. And Joseph opened every place in which there was [provision], and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was grievous in the land of Egypt.
57 And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph, to buy [grain], because the famine was grievous on the whole earth.
