Genesis 41
1 Post duos annos vidit Pharao somnium. Putabat se stare super fluvium,
After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,
2 de quo ascendebant septem boves, pulchræ et crassæ nimis: et pascebantur in locis palustribus.
Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.
3 Aliæ quoque septem emergebant de flumine, fœdæ, confectæque macie: et pascebantur in ipsa amnis ripa in locis virentibus:
Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:
4 devoraveruntque eas, quarum mira species, et habitudo corporum erat. Expergefactus Pharao,
And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.
5 rursum dormivit, et vidit alterum somnium: Septem spicæ pullulabant in culmo uno plenæ atque formosæ:
He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair:
6 aliæ quoque totidem spicæ tenues, et percussæ uredine oriebantur,
Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,
7 devorantes omnium priorum pulchritudinem. Evigilans Pharao post quietem,
And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest:
8 et facto mane, pavore perterritus, misit ad omnes coniectores Ægypti, cunctosque sapientes: et accersitis narravit somnium, nec erat qui interpretaretur.
And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.
9 Tunc demum reminiscens pincernarum magister, ait: Confiteor peccatum meum:
Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:
10 Iratus rex servis suis, me et magistrum pistorum retrudi iussit in carcerem principis militum:
The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers:
11 ubi una nocte uterque vidimus somnium præsagum futurorum.
Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.
12 Erat ibi puer Hebræus, eiusdem ducis militum famulus: cui narrantes somnia,
There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,
13 audivimus quidquid postea rei probavit eventus. Ego enim redditus sum officio meo: et ille suspensus est in cruce.
And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet.
14 Protinus ad regis imperium eductum de carcere Ioseph totonderunt: ac veste mutata, obtulerunt ei.
Forthwith at the king’s command, Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him, and changing his apparel, brought him in to him.
15 Cui ille ait: Vidi somnia, nec est qui edisserat: quæ audivi te sapientissime coniicere.
And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them.
16 Respondit Ioseph: Absque me Deus respondebit prospera Pharaoni.
Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.
17 Narravit ergo Pharao quod viderat: Putabam me stare super ripam fluminis,
So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,
18 et septem boves de amne conscendere, pulchras nimis, et obesis carnibus: quæ in pastu paludis virecta carpebant.
And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.
19 Et ecce, has sequebantur aliæ septem boves in tantum deformes et macilentæ, ut numquam tales in terra Ægypti viderim:
And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:
20 quæ, devoratis et consumptis prioribus,
And they devoured and consumed the former,
21 nullum saturitatis dedere vestigium: sed simili macie et squalore torpebant. Evigilans, rursus sopore depressus,
And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,
22 vidi somnium: Septem spicæ pullulabant in culmo uno plenæ atque pulcherrimæ.
And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.
23 Aliæ quoque septem tenues et percussæ uredine, oriebantur e stipula:
Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stock:
24 quæ priorum pulchritudinem devoraverunt. Narravi coniectoribus somnium, et nemo est qui edisserat.
And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.
25 Respondit Ioseph: Somnium regis unum est: quæ facturus est Deus, ostendit Pharaoni.
Joseph answered: The king’s dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.
26 Septem boves pulchræ, et septem spicæ plenæ: septem ubertatis anni sunt: eamdemque vim somnii comprehendunt.
The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.
27 Septem quoque boves tenues atque macilentæ, quæ ascenderunt post eas, et septem spicæ tenues, et vento urente percussæ, septem anni venturæ sunt famis.
And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:
28 Qui hoc ordine complebuntur:
Which shall be fulfilled in this order:
29 Ecce septem anni venient fertilitatis magnæ in universa terra Ægypti:
Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:
30 quos sequentur septem anni alii tantæ sterilitatis, ut oblivioni tradatur cuncta retro abundantia: consumptura est enim fames omnem terram,
After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,
31 et ubertatis magnitudinem perditura est inopiæ magnitudo.
And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.
32 Quod autem vidisti secundo ad eamdem rem pertinens somnium: firmitatis indicium est, eo quod fiat sermo Dei, et velocius impleatur.
And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.
33 Nunc ergo provideat rex virum sapientem et industrium, et præficiat eum Terræ Ægypti:
Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:
34 Qui constituat præpositos per cunctas regiones: et quintam partem fructuum per septem annos fertilitatis,
That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,
35 qui iam nunc futuri sunt, congreget in horrea: et omne frumentum sub Pharaonis potestate condatur, serveturque in urbibus.
That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao’s hands and be reserved in the cities.
36 Et præparetur futuræ septem annorum fami, quæ oppressura est Ægyptum, et non consumetur terra inopia.
And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed with scarcity.
37 Placuit Pharaoni consilium et cunctis ministris eius:
The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.
38 locutusque est ad eos: Num invenire poterimus talem virum, qui Spiritu Dei plenus sit?
And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?
39 Dixit ergo ad Ioseph: Quia ostendit tibi Deus omnia quæ locutus es, numquid sapientiorem et consimilem tui invenire potero?
He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?
40 Tu eris super domum meam, et ad tui oris imperium cunctus populus obediet: uno tantum regni solio te præcedam.
Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.
41 Dixitque rursus Pharao ad Ioseph: Ecce, constitui te super universam terram Ægypti.
And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.
42 Tulitque annulum de manu sua, et dedit eum in manu eius: vestivitque eum stola byssina, et collo torquem auream circumposuit.
And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.
43 Fecitque eum ascendere super currum suum secundum, clamante præcone, ut omnes coram eo genu flecterent, et præpositum esse scirent universæ Terræ Ægypti.
And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.
44 Dixit quoque rex ad Ioseph: Ego sum Pharao: absque tuo imperio non movebit quisquam manum aut pedem in omni terra Ægypti.
And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 Vertitque nomen eius, et vocavit eum lingua Ægyptiaca, Salvatorem mundi. Deditque illi uxorem Aseneth filiam Putiphare sacerdotis Heliopoleos. Egressus est itaque Ioseph ad terram Ægypti
And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:
46 (Triginta autem annorum erat quando stetit in conspectu regis Pharaonis) et circuivit omnes regiones Ægypti.
(Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao) and he went round all the countries of Egypt.
47 Venitque fertilitas septem annorum: et in manipulos redactæ segetes congregatæ sunt in horrea Ægypti.
And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corn being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.
48 Omnis etiam frugum abundantia in singulis urbibus condita est.
And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.
49 Tantaque fuit abundantia tritici, ut arenæ maris coæquaretur, et copia mensuram excederet.
And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.
50 Nati sunt autem Ioseph filii duo antequam veniret fames: quos peperit ei Aseneth filia Putiphare sacerdotis Heliopoleos.
And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore unto him.
51 Vocavitque nomen primogeniti, Manasses, dicens: Oblivisci me fecit Deus omnium laborum meorum, et domus patris mei.
And he called the name of the firstborn Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father’s house.
52 Nomen quoque secundi appellavit Ephraim, dicens: Crescere me fecit Deus in terra paupertatis meæ.
And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.
53 Igitur transactis septem ubertatis annis, qui fuerant in Ægypto:
Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past:
54 cœperunt venire septem anni inopiæ: quos prædixerat Ioseph: et in universo orbe fames prævaluit, in cuncta autem terra Ægypti panis erat.
The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.
55 Qua esuriente, clamavit populus ad Pharaonem, alimenta petens. Quibus ille respondit: Ite ad Ioseph: et quidquid ipse vobis dixerit, facite.
And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.
56 Crescebat autem quotidie fames in omni terra: aperuitque Ioseph universa horrea, et vendebat Ægyptiis: nam et illos oppresserat fames.
And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.
57 Omnesque provinciæ veniebant in Ægyptum, ut emerent escas, et malum inopiæ temperarent.
And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.
