Genesis 41
1 Post duos annos vidit Pharao somnium. Putabat se stare super fluvium,
A full two years later, Pharaoh had a dream that he was standing beside the River Nile.
2 de quo ascendebant septem boves, pulchrae et crassae nimis: et pascebantur in locis palustribus.
He saw seven cows coming up from the river. They looked well-fed and healthy as they grazed among the reeds.
3 Aliae quoque septem emergebant de flumine, foedae, confectaeque macie: et pascebantur in ipsa amnis ripa in locis virentibus:
Then he saw another seven cows that came up behind them. They looked ugly and skinny as they stood beside the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
4 devoraveruntque eas, quarum mira species, et habitudo corporum erat. Expergefactus Pharao,
Then the ugly, skinny cows ate the well-fed, healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 rursum dormivit, et vidit alterum somnium: Septem spicae pullulabant in culmo uno plenae atque formosae:
Pharaoh fell asleep again and had a second dream. Seven heads of grain were growing on one stalk, ripe and healthy.
6 aliae quoque totidem spicae tenues, et percussae uredine oriebantur,
Then seven heads of grain grew up after them, thin and dried by the east wind.
7 devorantes omnium priorum pulchritudinem. Evigilans Pharao post quietem,
The seven thin and dried heads of grain swallowed up the ripe and healthy ones. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized he'd been dreaming.
8 et facto mane, pavore perterritus, misit ad omnes coniectores Aegypti, cunctosque sapientes: et accersitis narravit somnium, nec erat qui interpretaretur.
The next morning Pharaoh was worried by his dreams, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men in Egypt. Pharaoh told them about his dreams, but no one could interpret their meaning for him.
9 Tunc demum reminiscens pincernarum magister, ait: Confiteor peccatum meum:
But then the chief cupbearer spoke up. “Today I've just remembered a bad mistake I've made,” he explained.
10 Iratus rex servis suis, me et magistrum pistorum retrudi iussit in carcerem principis militum:
“Your Majesty was angry with some of your officials and you imprisoned me in the house of the commander of the guard, along with the chief baker.
11 ubi una nocte uterque vidimus somnium praesagium futurorum.
We each had a dream. They were different dreams, each with its own meaning.
12 Erat ibi puer Hebraeus, eiusdem ducis militum famulus: cui narrantes somnia,
A young Hebrew was there with us, a slave of the commander of the guard. When we told him our dreams, he interpreted for us the meaning of our different dreams.
13 audivimus quidquid postea rei probavit eventus. ego enim redditus sum officio meo: et ille suspensus est in cruce.
Everything happened just as he said it would—I was given back my job and the baker was hanged.”
14 Protinus ad regis imperium eductum de carcere Ioseph totonderunt: ac veste mutata, obtulerunt ei.
Pharaoh summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the prison. After he'd shaved and changed his clothes, he was presented to Pharaoh.
15 Cui ille ait: Vidi somnia, nec est qui edisserat: quae audivi te sapientissime coniicere.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, but no one can interpret its meaning. But I've heard that when someone tells you a dream you know how to interpret it.”
16 Respondit Ioseph: Absque me Deus respondebit prospera Pharaoni.
“It's not me who can do this,” Joseph replied. “But God will explain its meaning to set Your Majesty's mind at rest.”
17 Narravit ergo Pharao quod viderat: Putabam me stare super ripam fluminis,
Pharaoh explained to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile.
18 et septem boves de amne conscendere, pulchras nimis, et obesis carnibus: quae in pastu paludis virecta carpebant.
I saw seven cows coming up from the river. They looked well-fed and healthy as they grazed among the reeds.
19 et ecce, has sequebantur aliae septem boves in tantum deformes et macilentae, ut numquam tales in terra Aegypti viderim:
Then I saw another seven cows that came up behind them. They looked sickly and ugly and skinny—I've never seen such ugly cows in the whole of Egypt!
20 quae, devoratis et consumptis prioribus,
These skinny, ugly cows ate the first seven healthy-looking cows.
21 nullum saturitatis dedere vestigium: sed simili macie et squalore torpebant. Evigilans, rursus sopore depressus,
But afterwards you couldn't tell they'd eaten them because they looked just as skinny and ugly as before. Then I woke up.
22 vidi somnium: Septem spicae pullulabant in culmo uno plenae atque pulcherrimae.
Then I fell asleep again. In my second dream I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, ripe and healthy.
23 Aliae quoque septem tenues et percussae uredine, oriebantur e stipula:
Then seven heads of grain grew up after them, withered and thin and dried by the east wind.
24 quae priorum pulchritudinem devoraverunt. Narravi coniectoribus somnium, et nemo est qui edisserat.
The seven thin heads of grain swallowed up the healthy ones. I told all this to the magicians, but none of them could explain its meaning to me.”
25 Respondit Ioseph: Somnium regis unum est: quae facturus est Deus, ostendit Pharaoni.
“Pharaoh's dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph responded. “God is telling Pharaoh what he is going to do.
26 Septem boves pulchrae, et septem spicae plenae: septem hubertatis anni sunt: eandemque vim somnii comprehendunt.
The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain represent seven good years of harvest. The dreams mean the same thing.
27 Septem quoque boves tenues atque macilentae, quae ascenderunt post eas, et septem spicae tenues, et vento urente percussae, septem anni venturae sunt famis.
The seven skinny and ugly cows that came after them and the seven thin heads of grain dried by the east wind represent seven years of famine.
28 Qui hoc ordine complebuntur:
It's just as I told Your Majesty—God has shown Pharaoh what he is going to do.
29 Ecce septem anni venient fertilitatis magnae in universa terra Aegypti:
There are going to be seven years with plenty of food produced throughout the whole country of Egypt.
30 quos sequentur septem anni alii tantae sterilitatis, ut oblivioni tradatur cuncta retro abundantia: consumptura est enim fames omnem terram,
But after them will come seven years of famine. People will forget the time when there was plenty of food throughout Egypt. Famine will ruin the country.
31 et ubertatis magnitudinem perditura est inopiae magnitudo.
The time of plenty will be completely forgotten because the famine that follows it will be so terrible.
32 Quod autem vidisti secundo ad eandem rem pertinens somnium: firmitatis indicium est, eo quod fiat sermo Dei, et velocius impleatur.
The fact that the dream was repeated twice means that it has definitely been decided by God, and that God is going to do this soon.
33 Nunc ergo provideat rex virum sapientem et industrium, et praeficiat eum Terrae Aegypti:
So Your Majesty should choose a man with insight and wisdom, and put him in charge of the whole country of Egypt.
34 Qui constituat praepositos per cunctas regiones: et quintam partem fructuum per septem annos fertilitatis,
Your Majesty should also appoint officials to be in charge of the land, and have them collect one-fifth of the produce of the country during the seven years of plenty.
35 qui iam nunc futuri sunt, congreget in horrea: et omne frumentum sub Pharaonis potestate condatur, serveturque in urbibus.
They should collect all the food during the good years that are soon coming, and store the grain under Pharaoh's authority, keeping it under guard to provide food for the towns.
36 Et praeparetur futurae septem annorum fami, quae oppressura est Aegyptum, et non consumetur terra inopia.
This will be a food reserve for the country during the seven years of famine so that the people won't die of starvation.”
37 Placuit Pharaoni consilium et cunctis ministris eius:
Pharaoh and all his officials thought Joseph's proposal was a good idea.
38 locutusque est ad eos: Num invenire poterimus talem virum, qui spiritu Dei plenus sit?
So Pharaoh asked them, “Where can we find a man like this who has the spirit of God in him?”
39 Dixit ergo ad Ioseph: Quia ostendit tibi Deus omnia quae locutus es, numquid sapientiorem et consimilem tui invenire potero?
Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, telling him, “Since God has revealed to you all this, and there's no one like you with such insight and wisdom,
40 Tu eris super domum meam, et ad tui oris imperium cunctus populus obediet: uno tantum regni solio te praecedam.
you will be in charge of all my affairs, and all my people will obey your orders. Only I with my status as king will be greater than you.”
41 Dixitque rursus Pharao ad Ioseph: Ecce, constitui te super universam terram Aegypti.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Look, I'm putting you in charge of the whole country of Egypt.”
42 Tulitque annulum de manu sua, et dedit eum in manu eius: vestivitque eum stola byssina, et collo torquem auream circumposuit.
Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothes and placed a golden chain around his neck.
43 Fecitque eum ascendere super currum suum secundum, clamante praecone, ut omnes coram eo genu flecterent, et praepositum esse scirent universae Terrae Aegypti.
He had Joseph ride in the chariot designated for his second-in-command while his attendants went ahead, shouting, “Bow down!” This is how Pharaoh gave Joseph authority over all of Egypt.
44 Dixit quoque rex Aegypti ad Ioseph: Ego sum Pharao: absque tuo imperio non movebit quisquam manum aut pedem in omni terra Aegypti.
Then Pharaoh told Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission nobody will lift a hand or a foot anywhere in the whole country.”
45 Vertitque nomen eius, et vocavit eum lingua Aegyptiaca, Salvatorem mundi. Deditque illi uxorem Aseneth filiam Phutipharis sacerdotis Heliopoleos. Egressus est itaque Ioseph ad terram Aegypti
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and arranged for him to marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. This is how Joseph rose to power over the whole of Egypt.
46 (Triginta autem annorum erat quando stetit in conspectu regis Pharaonis) et circuivit omnes regiones Aegypti.
Joseph was thirty when he started working for Pharaoh, king of Egypt. After he had left Pharaoh, Joseph traveled on an inspection tour throughout Egypt.
47 Venitque fertilitas septem annorum: et in manipulos redactae segetes congregatae sunt in horrea Aegypti.
During the seven years of good harvests, the land produced plenty of food.
48 Omnis etiam frugum abundantia in singulis urbibus condita est.
He collected all the food during the seven good years, and he stored the grain produced in the local fields in each town.
49 Tantaque fuit abundantia tritici, ut arenae maris coaequaretur, et copia mensuram excederet.
Joseph piled up so much grain that it was like the sand of the seashore. Eventually he stopped keeping records because there was just so much!
50 Natique sunt Ioseph filii duo antequam veniret fames: quos peperit ei Aseneth filia Phutipharis sacerdotis Heliopoleos.
It was during this time, before the years of famine came, that Joseph had two sons by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
51 Vocavitque nomen primogeniti, Manasses, dicens: Oblivisci me fecit Deus omnium laborum meorum, et domus patris mei.
Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, because he said, “The Lord has made me forget all my troubles and all my father's family.”
52 Nomen quoque secundi appellavit Ephraim, dicens: Crescere me fecit Deus in terra paupertatis meae.
His second son he named Ephraim, because he said, “God has made me fruitful in the country of my misery.”
53 Igitur transactis septem hubertatis annis, qui fuerant in Aegypto:
The seven years of plenty in Egypt came to an end,
54 coeperunt venire septem anni inopiae: quos praedixerat Ioseph: et in universo orbe fames praevaluit, in cuncta autem terra Aegypti panis erat.
and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other countries but the whole of Egypt had food.
55 Qua esuriente, clamavit populus ad Pharaonem, alimenta petens. Quibus ille respondit: Ite ad Ioseph: et quidquid ipse vobis dixerit, facite.
When all of Egypt was hungry, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, and he told everyone, “Go and see Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
56 Crescebat autem quotidie fames in omni terra: aperuitque Ioseph universa horrea, et vendebat Aegyptiis: nam et illos oppresserat fames.
The famine had spread all over the country so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the people of Egypt. The famine was very bad in Egypt,
57 Omnesque provinciae veniebant in Aegyptum, ut emerent escas, et malum inopiae temperarent.
in fact the famine was very bad everywhere, so people from other countries all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.
