Genesi 41
1 Al termine di due anni, il faraone sognò di trovarsi presso il Nilo.
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 Ed ecco salirono dal Nilo sette vacche, belle di aspetto e grasse e si misero a pascolare tra i giunchi.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 Ed ecco, dopo quelle, sette altre vacche salirono dal Nilo, brutte di aspetto e magre, e si fermarono accanto alle prime vacche sulla riva del Nilo.
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 Ma le vacche brutte di aspetto e magre divorarono le sette vacche belle di aspetto e grasse. E il faraone si svegliò.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 Poi si addormentò e sognò una seconda volta: ecco sette spighe spuntavano da un unico stelo, grosse e belle.
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 Ma ecco sette spighe vuote e arse dal vento d'oriente spuntavano dopo quelle.
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 Le spighe vuote inghiottirono le sette spighe grosse e piene. Poi il faraone si svegliò: era stato un sogno.
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 Alla mattina il suo spirito ne era turbato, perciò convocò tutti gli indovini e tutti i saggi dell'Egitto. Il faraone raccontò loro il sogno, ma nessuno lo sapeva interpretare al faraone.
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 Allora il capo dei coppieri parlò al faraone: «Io devo ricordare oggi le mie colpe.
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 Il faraone si era adirato contro i suoi servi e li aveva messi in carcere nella casa del capo delle guardie, me e il capo dei panettieri.
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 Noi facemmo un sogno nella stessa notte, io e lui; ma avemmo ciascuno un sogno con un significato particolare.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 Ora era là con noi un giovane ebreo, schiavo del capo delle guardie; noi gli raccontammo i nostri sogni ed egli ce li interpretò, dando a ciascuno spiegazione del suo sogno.
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 Proprio come ci aveva interpretato, così avvenne: io fui restituito alla mia carica e l'altro fu impiccato».
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 Allora il faraone convocò Giuseppe. Lo fecero uscire in fretta dal sotterraneo ed egli si rase, si cambiò gli abiti e si presentò al faraone.
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 Il faraone disse a Giuseppe: «Ho fatto un sogno e nessuno lo sa interpretare; ora io ho sentito dire di te che ti basta ascoltare un sogno per interpretarlo subito».
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 Giuseppe rispose al faraone: «Non io, ma Dio darà la risposta per la salute del faraone!».
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 Allora il faraone disse a Giuseppe: «Nel mio sogno io mi trovavo sulla riva del Nilo.
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 Quand'ecco salirono dal Nilo sette vacche grasse e belle di forma e si misero a pascolare tra i giunchi.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 Ed ecco sette altre vacche salirono dopo quelle, deboli, brutte di forma e magre: non ne vidi mai di così brutte in tutto il paese d'Egitto.
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 Le vacche magre e brutte divorarono le prime sette vacche, quelle grasse.
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 Queste entrarono nel loro corpo, ma non si capiva che vi fossero entrate, perché il loro aspetto era brutto come prima. E mi svegliai.
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 Poi vidi nel sogno che sette spighe spuntavano da un solo stelo, piene e belle.
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 Ma ecco sette spighe secche, vuote e arse dal vento d'oriente, spuntavano dopo quelle.
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 Le spighe vuote inghiottirono le sette spighe belle. Ora io l'ho detto agli indovini, ma nessuno mi dà la spiegazione».
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 Allora Giuseppe disse al faraone: «Il sogno del faraone è uno solo: quello che Dio sta per fare, lo ha indicato al faraone.
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 Le sette vacche belle sono sette anni e le sette spighe belle sono sette anni: è un solo sogno.
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 E le sette vacche magre e brutte, che salgono dopo quelle, sono sette anni e le sette spighe vuote, arse dal vento d'oriente, sono sette anni: vi saranno sette anni di carestia.
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 E' appunto ciò che ho detto al faraone: quanto Dio sta per fare, l'ha manifestato al faraone.
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Ecco stanno per venire sette anni, in cui sarà grande abbondanza in tutto il paese d'Egitto.
There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
30 Poi a questi succederanno sette anni di carestia; si dimenticherà tutta quella abbondanza nel paese d'Egitto e la carestia consumerà il paese.
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 Si dimenticherà che vi era stata l'abbondanza nel paese a causa della carestia venuta in seguito, perché sarà molto dura.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 Quanto al fatto che il sogno del faraone si è ripetuto due volte, significa che la cosa è decisa da Dio e che Dio si affretta ad eseguirla.
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 Ora il faraone pensi a trovare un uomo intelligente e saggio e lo metta a capo del paese d'Egitto.
“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 Il faraone inoltre proceda ad istituire funzionari sul paese, per prelevare un quinto sui prodotti del paese d'Egitto durante i sette anni di abbondanza.
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 Essi raccoglieranno tutti i viveri di queste annate buone che stanno per venire, ammasseranno il grano sotto l'autorità del faraone e lo terranno in deposito nelle città.
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 Questi viveri serviranno al paese di riserva per i sette anni di carestia che verranno nel paese d'Egitto; così il paese non sarà distrutto dalla carestia».
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 La cosa piacque al faraone e a tutti i suoi ministri.
The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
38 Il faraone disse ai ministri: «Potremo trovare un uomo come questo, in cui sia lo spirito di Dio?».
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 Poi il faraone disse a Giuseppe: «Dal momento che Dio ti ha manifestato tutto questo, nessuno è intelligente e saggio come te.
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 Tu stesso sarai il mio maggiordomo e ai tuoi ordini si schiererà tutto il mio popolo: solo per il trono io sarò più grande di te».
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 Il faraone disse a Giuseppe: «Ecco, io ti metto a capo di tutto il paese d'Egitto».
Then the king said to Joseph, “I am now putting you in charge of the whole country of Egypt.”
42 Il faraone si tolse di mano l'anello e lo pose sulla mano di Giuseppe; lo rivestì di abiti di lino finissimo e gli pose al collo un monile d'oro.
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 Poi lo fece montare sul suo secondo carro e davanti a lui si gridava: «Abrech». E così lo si stabilì su tutto il paese d'Egitto.
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 Poi il faraone disse a Giuseppe: «Sono il faraone, ma senza il tuo permesso nessuno potrà alzare la mano o il piede in tutto il paese d'Egitto».
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 E il faraone chiamò Giuseppe Zafnat-Paneach e gli diede in moglie Asenat, figlia di Potifera, sacerdote di On. Giuseppe uscì per tutto il paese d'Egitto.
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 Giuseppe aveva trent'anni quando si presentò al faraone re d'Egitto. Poi Giuseppe si allontanò dal faraone e percorse tutto il paese d'Egitto.
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 Durante i sette anni di abbondanza la terra produsse a profusione.
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 Egli raccolse tutti i viveri dei sette anni, nei quali vi era stata l'abbondanza nel paese d'Egitto, e ripose i viveri nelle città, cioè in ogni città ripose i viveri della campagna circostante.
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 Giuseppe ammassò il grano come la sabbia del mare, in grandissima quantità, così che non se ne fece più il computo, perché era incalcolabile.
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 Intanto nacquero a Giuseppe due figli, prima che venisse l'anno della carestia; glieli partorì Asenat, figlia di Potifera, sacerdote di On.
Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
51 Giuseppe chiamò il primogenito Manasse, «perché - disse - Dio mi ha fatto dimenticare ogni affanno e tutta la casa di mio padre».
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 E il secondo lo chiamò Efraim, «perché - disse - Dio mi ha reso fecondo nel paese della mia afflizione».
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 Poi finirono i sette anni di abbondanza nel paese d'Egitto
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 e cominciarono i sette anni di carestia, come aveva detto Giuseppe. Ci fu carestia in tutti i paesi, ma in tutto l'Egitto c'era il pane.
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 Poi tutto il paese d'Egitto cominciò a sentire la fame e il popolo gridò al faraone per avere il pane. Allora il faraone disse a tutti gli Egiziani: «Andate da Giuseppe; fate quello che vi dirà».
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 La carestia dominava su tutta la terra. Allora Giuseppe aprì tutti i depositi in cui vi era grano e vendette il grano agli Egiziani, mentre la carestia si aggravava in Egitto.
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 E da tutti i paesi venivano in Egitto per acquistare grano da Giuseppe, perché la carestia infieriva su tutta la terra.
And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
