Genesis 41
41
1And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. 2And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fine-looking and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed-grass. 3And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, bad-looking and lean-fleshed, and stood by the kine on the bank of the river. 4And the kine that were bad-looking and lean-fleshed ate up the seven kine that were fine-looking and fat. And Pharaoh awoke. 5And he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of corn grew up on one stalk, fat and good. 6And behold, seven ears, thin and parched with the east wind, sprung up after them. 7And the thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke; and behold, it was a dream. 8And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the scribes of Egypt, and all the sages who were therein, and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none to interpret them to Pharaoh.
9Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day. 10Pharaoh was wroth with his bondmen, and put me in custody into the captain of the life-guard's house, me and the chief of the bakers. 11And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each according to the interpretation of his dream. 12And there was there with us a Hebrew youth, a bondman of the captain of the life-guard, to whom we told them, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each he interpreted according to his dream. 13And it came to pass, just as he interpreted to us, so it came about: me has he restored to my office, and him he hanged. 14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph; and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved himself, and changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh. 15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamt a dream, and there is none to interpret it. And I have heard say of thee, thou understandest a dream to interpret it. 16And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God#GodHebrew: Elohim will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
17And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the river. 18And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they fed in the reed-grass. 19And behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor, and very ill-formed, and lean-fleshed — such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness. 20And the lean and bad kine ate up the seven first fat kine; 21and they came into their belly, and it could not be known that they had come into their belly; and their look was bad, as at the beginning. And I awoke. 22And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good. 23And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, parched with the east wind, sprung up after them; 24and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told it to the scribes; but there was none to make it known to me. 25And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God#GodHebrew: Elohim will do he has made known to Pharaoh. 26The seven fine kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. 27And the seven lean and bad kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears, parched with the east wind, will be seven years of famine. 28This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh: what God#GodHebrew: Elohim is about to do he has let Pharaoh see. 29Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout the land of Egypt. 30And there will arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will waste away the land. 31And the plenty will not be known afterwards in the land by reason of that famine; for it will be very grievous. 32And as regards the double repetition of the dream to Pharaoh, it is that the thing is established by God#GodHebrew: Elohim and God#GodHebrew: Elohim will hasten to do it.
33And now let Pharaoh look himself out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh do this: let him appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty, 35and let them gather all the food of these coming good years, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, for food in the cities, and keep it. 36And let the food be as store for the land for the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine. 37And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his bondmen. 38And Pharaoh said to his bondmen, Shall we find one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God#GodHebrew: Elohim is? 39And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God#GodHebrew: Elohim has made all this known to thee, there is none so discreet and wise as thou. 40Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy commandment shall all my people regulate themselves; only concerning the throne will I be greater than thou. 41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. 42And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in clothes of byssus, and put a gold chain on his neck. 43And he caused him to ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee! and he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt. 45And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him as wife Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh, and passed through the whole land of Egypt. 47And in the seven years of plenty the land brought forth by handfuls. 48And he gathered up all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities; the food of the fields of the city, which were round about it, he laid up in it. 49And Joseph laid up corn as sand of the sea exceeding much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number. 50And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On bore to him. 51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh — For God#GodHebrew: Elohim has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52And the name of the second he called Ephraim — For God#GodHebrew: Elohim has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. 53And the seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt were ended; 54and the seven years of the dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And there was dearth in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55And all the land of Egypt suffered from the dearth. And the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph: what he says to you, that do. 56And the famine was on all the earth. And Joseph opened every place in which there was provision, and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was grievous in the land of Egypt. 57And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was grievous on the whole earth.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 41
41
Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams
1After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamt that he was standing by the River Nile, 2when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass. 3Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the river bank, 4and the thin cows ate up the fat cows. Then the king woke up. 5He fell asleep again and had another dream. Seven ears of corn, full and ripe, were growing on one stalk. 6Then seven other ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, 7and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming. 8#Dan 2.2In the morning he was worried, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them his dreams, but no one could explain them to him.
9Then the wine steward said to the king, “I must confess today that I have done wrong. 10You were angry with the chief baker and me, and you put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. 11One night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. 12A young Hebrew was there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us. 13Things turned out just as he said: you restored me to my position, but you executed the baker.”
14The king sent for Joseph, and he was immediately brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king's presence. 15The king said to him, “I have had a dream, and no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams.”
16Joseph answered, “I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favourable interpretation.”
17The king said, “I dreamt that I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass. 19Then seven other cows came up which were thin and bony. They were the poorest cows I have ever seen anywhere in Egypt. 20The thin cows ate up the fat ones, 21but no one would have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up. 22I also dreamt that I saw seven ears of corn which were full and ripe, growing on one stalk. 23Then seven ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, 24and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. I told the dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain them to me.”
25Joseph said to the king, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do. 26The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven full ears of corn are also seven years; they have the same meaning. 27The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin ears of corn scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine. 28It is just as I told you — God has shown you what he is going to do. 29There will be seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt. 30After that, there will be seven years of famine, and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country. 31The time of plenty will be entirely forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible. 32The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.
33“Now you should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country. 34You must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops during the seven years of plenty. 35Order them to collect all the food during the good years that are coming, and give them authority to store up corn in the cities and guard it. 36The food will be a reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt. In this way the people will not starve.”
Joseph is Made Governor over Egypt
37The king and his officials approved this plan, 38and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God's Spirit in him.” 39The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else. 40#Acts 7.10I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine. 41I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.” 42#Dan 5.29The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph's finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain round his neck. 43He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honour went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt. 44The king said to him, “I am the king — and no one in all Egypt shall so much as lift a hand or a foot without your permission.” 45-46He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.
Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve the king of Egypt. He left the king's court and travelled all over the land. 47During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundant crops, 48all of which Joseph collected and stored in the cities. In each city he stored the food from the fields around it. 49There was so much corn that Joseph stopped measuring it — it was like the sand of the sea.
50Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by Asenath. 51He said, “God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father's family”; so he named his first son Manasseh.#41.51 Manasseh: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “cause to forget”. 52He also said, “God has given me children in the land of my trouble”; so he named his second son Ephraim.#41.52 Ephraim: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “give children”.
53The seven years of plenty that the land of Egypt had enjoyed came to an end, 54#Acts 7.11and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every other country, but there was food throughout Egypt. 55#Jn 2.5When the Egyptians began to be hungry, they cried out to the king for food. So he ordered them to go to Joseph and do what he told them. 56The famine grew worse and spread over the whole country, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold corn to the Egyptians. 57People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy corn from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.