Genesis 41
1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured cows and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other cows upon the brink 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 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed cows ate up the seven well favoured and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of grain came up upon 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, behold, seven thin ears and parched with the east wind sprung 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 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, 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 was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none 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 spoke the chief butler to Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults 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 furious with his servants, and put me in custody in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:
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 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he interpreted.
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 was; me he restored to my office, and 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 Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came before 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 to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard it said of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to 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, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
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 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 And, behold, there came out of the river seven cows, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 And, behold, seven other cows came out after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
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 And the lean and the ill favoured cows ate up the first seven fat cows:
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, 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 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came 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, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and parched with the east wind, sprung 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 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this to the magicians; but there was none that could make known the meaning of it 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 And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
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 cows 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 thin and ill favoured cows that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blighted with the east wind shall 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 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh: What God is about to do he showeth to Pharaoh.
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten 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 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 And for that the dream was doubled to Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
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, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
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 all the food of those good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
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 And that food shall be for reserve for the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land may not perish through 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 to his servants, Can we find such a man as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
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 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
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 according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in 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 to 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 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about 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 he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler 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 to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or 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 Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went over all 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 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout 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 in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was surrounding every city, he laid up in the same.
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 And Joseph gathered grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he finished numbering; for it was without number.
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 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bore 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, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
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 caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
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 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the famine was in all 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 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph; what he saith to you, 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 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine became severe in 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 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain; because the famine was severe in all lands.
And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
