Genesis 41
1 It came about at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream. Behold, he stood 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 Behold, seven cows came up out of the Nile, desirable and fat, and they grazed in the reeds.
And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
3 Behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, undesirable and thin. They stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.
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 Then the undesirable and thin cows ate the seven desirable 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 Then he slept and dreamed a second time. Behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, wholesome 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 Behold, seven heads, thin and scorched by 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 wholesome and full heads. Pharaoh woke up, and, behold, 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 came about in the morning that his spirit was troubled. He sent and called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. 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 said to Pharaoh, “Today I am thinking about my offenses.
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 custody in the house of the captain of the guard, the chief baker and me.
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 dreamed a dream the same night, he and I. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.
12 There was with us there a young Hebrew man, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him and he interpreted for us our dreams. He interpreted for each of us according to his 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 It came about as he interpreted for us, so it happened. Pharaoh restored me to my post, but the other one he 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 sent and called for Joseph. They quickly took him out of the dungeon. 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 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, but there is no interpreter for it. But I have heard 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 Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me. God will answer Pharaoh with favor.”
Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
17 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the Nile.
Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 Behold, seven cows came up out of the Nile, fat and desirable, 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 Behold, seven other cows came up after them, weak, very undesirable, and thin. I never saw in all the land of Egypt such undesirableness like them.
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 undesirable 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 When they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them, for they were still as undesirable as before. Then I awoke.
And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.
22 I looked in my dream, and, behold, seven heads came up upon 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 Behold, seven more heads—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprang up after them.
And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
24 The thin heads swallowed up the seven good heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but there was none that could explain it to me.”
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 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are the same. What God is about to do, he has declared to Pharaoh.
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 are seven years, and the seven good heads are 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 The seven thin and undesirable cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven thin heads scorched by the east wind will be 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 That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has revealed to Pharaoh.
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 Seven years of famine will come after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and 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 The abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that will follow, 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 That the dream was repeated to Pharaoh is because the matter has been established by God, and God will soon do it.
And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
33 Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and put him 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 Let Pharaoh appoint officials over the land, and let them take a fifth of the crops of Egypt in the seven abundant years.
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 Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, for food to be used in the cities. 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 The food will be a supply for the land for the seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt. In this way the land will not be devastated by 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 This advice 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 man as this, 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, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so 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 over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in 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, “See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.”
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
42 Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand. He clothed him with clothes of fine linen, and put a gold chain on 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 He had him ride in the second chariot which he possessed. Men shouted before him, “Bend the knee.” Pharaoh put him over all the 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 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and apart from you, no man will lift his hand or his foot 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.” He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife. Joseph went out over 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 stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph went out from 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 In the seven bountiful years the land produced abundantly.
Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities. He put into each city the food from the fields that surrounded 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 like the sand of the sea, so much that he stopped counting, because it was beyond counting.
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 Joseph had two sons before the years 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 his firstborn Manasseh, for he said, “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 He called the name of the second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
53 The seven years of abundance that was in the land of Egypt came to an end.
And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
54 The seven years of famine began, 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 was famished, the people loudly called on Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he says.”
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 The famine was over all the face of the whole land. Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. 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 All the earth was coming to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, 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.
