Genesis 41
1 Post duos annos vidit Pharao somnium. Putabat se stare super fluvium,
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 de quo ascendebant septem boves, pulchrae et crassae nimis: et pascebantur in locis palustribus.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 Aliae quoque septem emergebant de flumine, foedae, confectaeque macie: et pascebantur in ipsa amnis ripa in locis virentibus:
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 devoraveruntque eas, quarum mira species, et habitudo corporum erat. Expergefactus Pharao,
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 rursum dormivit, et vidit alterum somnium: Septem spicae pullulabant in culmo uno plenae atque formosae:
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 aliae quoque totidem spicae tenues, et percussae uredine oriebantur,
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 devorantes omnium priorum pulchritudinem. Evigilans Pharao post quietem,
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 et facto mane, pavore perterritus, misit ad omnes coniectores Aegypti, cunctosque sapientes: et accersitis narravit somnium, nec erat qui interpretaretur.
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 Tunc demum reminiscens pincernarum magister, ait: Confiteor peccatum meum:
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 Iratus rex servis suis, me et magistrum pistorum retrudi iussit in carcerem principis militum:
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 ubi una nocte uterque vidimus somnium praesagium futurorum.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 Erat ibi puer Hebraeus, eiusdem ducis militum famulus: cui narrantes somnia,
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 audivimus quidquid postea rei probavit eventus. ego enim redditus sum officio meo: et ille suspensus est in cruce.
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 Protinus ad regis imperium eductum de carcere Ioseph totonderunt: ac veste mutata, obtulerunt ei.
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 Cui ille ait: Vidi somnia, nec est qui edisserat: quae audivi te sapientissime coniicere.
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 Respondit Ioseph: Absque me Deus respondebit prospera Pharaoni.
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 Narravit ergo Pharao quod viderat: Putabam me stare super ripam fluminis,
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 et septem boves de amne conscendere, pulchras nimis, et obesis carnibus: quae in pastu paludis virecta carpebant.
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 et ecce, has sequebantur aliae septem boves in tantum deformes et macilentae, ut numquam tales in terra Aegypti viderim:
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 quae, devoratis et consumptis prioribus,
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 nullum saturitatis dedere vestigium: sed simili macie et squalore torpebant. Evigilans, rursus sopore depressus,
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 vidi somnium: Septem spicae pullulabant in culmo uno plenae atque pulcherrimae.
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 Aliae quoque septem tenues et percussae uredine, oriebantur e stipula:
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 quae priorum pulchritudinem devoraverunt. Narravi coniectoribus somnium, et nemo est qui edisserat.
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 Respondit Ioseph: Somnium regis unum est: quae facturus est Deus, ostendit Pharaoni.
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 Septem boves pulchrae, et septem spicae plenae: septem hubertatis anni sunt: eandemque vim somnii comprehendunt.
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 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 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 Qui hoc ordine complebuntur:
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Ecce septem anni venient fertilitatis magnae in universa terra Aegypti:
There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
30 quos sequentur septem anni alii tantae sterilitatis, ut oblivioni tradatur cuncta retro abundantia: consumptura est enim fames omnem terram,
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 et ubertatis magnitudinem perditura est inopiae magnitudo.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 Quod autem vidisti secundo ad eandem rem pertinens somnium: firmitatis indicium est, eo quod fiat sermo Dei, et velocius impleatur.
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 Nunc ergo provideat rex virum sapientem et industrium, et praeficiat eum Terrae Aegypti:
“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 Qui constituat praepositos per cunctas regiones: et quintam partem fructuum per septem annos fertilitatis,
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 qui iam nunc futuri sunt, congreget in horrea: et omne frumentum sub Pharaonis potestate condatur, serveturque in urbibus.
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 Et praeparetur futurae septem annorum fami, quae oppressura est Aegyptum, et non consumetur terra inopia.
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 Placuit Pharaoni consilium et cunctis ministris eius:
The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
38 locutusque est ad eos: Num invenire poterimus talem virum, qui spiritu Dei plenus sit?
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 Dixit ergo ad Ioseph: Quia ostendit tibi Deus omnia quae locutus es, numquid sapientiorem et consimilem tui invenire potero?
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 eris super domum meam, et ad tui oris imperium cunctus populus obediet: uno tantum regni solio te praecedam.
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 Dixitque rursus Pharao ad Ioseph: Ecce, constitui te super universam terram Aegypti.
Then the king said to Joseph, “I am now 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.
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 Fecitque eum ascendere super currum suum secundum, clamante praecone, ut omnes coram eo genu flecterent, et praepositum esse scirent universae Terrae Aegypti.
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 Dixit quoque rex Aegypti ad Ioseph: Ego sum Pharao: absque tuo imperio non movebit quisquam manum aut pedem in omni terra Aegypti.
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 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
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 (Triginta autem annorum erat quando stetit in conspectu regis Pharaonis) et circuivit omnes regiones Aegypti.
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 Venitque fertilitas septem annorum: et in manipulos redactae segetes congregatae sunt in horrea Aegypti.
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 Omnis etiam frugum abundantia in singulis urbibus condita est.
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 Tantaque fuit abundantia tritici, ut arenae maris coaequaretur, et copia mensuram excederet.
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 Natique sunt Ioseph filii duo antequam veniret fames: quos peperit ei Aseneth filia Phutipharis sacerdotis Heliopoleos.
Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
51 Vocavitque nomen primogeniti, Manasses, dicens: Oblivisci me fecit Deus omnium laborum meorum, et domus patris mei.
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 Nomen quoque secundi appellavit Ephraim, dicens: Crescere me fecit Deus in terra paupertatis meae.
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 Igitur transactis septem hubertatis annis, qui fuerant in Aegypto:
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 coeperunt venire septem anni inopiae: quos praedixerat Ioseph: et in universo orbe fames praevaluit, in cuncta autem terra Aegypti panis erat.
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 Qua esuriente, clamavit populus ad Pharaonem, alimenta petens. Quibus ille respondit: Ite ad Ioseph: et quidquid ipse vobis dixerit, facite.
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 Crescebat autem quotidie fames in omni terra: aperuitque Ioseph universa horrea, et vendebat Aegyptiis: nam et illos oppresserat fames.
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 Omnesque provinciae veniebant in Aegyptum, ut emerent escas, et malum inopiae temperarent.
And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
