Genesis 41

1After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,

2Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.

3Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and lean-fleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places.

4And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.

5He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair.

6Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

7And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest.

8And 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.

9Then at length the chief butler remembering said: I confess my sin.

10The king, being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers;

11Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.

12There was there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams.

13And 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.

14Forthwith 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.

15And 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.

16Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.

17So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river;

18And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh. And they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

19And, behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt.

20And the devoured and consumed the former,

21And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

22And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.

23Other seven also, thin and blasted, sprung of the stock.

24And they devoured the beauty of the former. I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

25Joseph answered: The king's dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.

26The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

27And 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.

28Which shall be fulfilled in this order:

29Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:

30After which shall follow other seven years of so great scacity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten. For the famine shall consume all the land,

31And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.

32And 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.

33Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt,

34That he may appoint overseers over all the countries; and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,

35That shall now presently ensue. And let all the corn be laid up under Pharao's hands, and be reserved in the cities.

36And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not consumed with scarcity.

37The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.

38And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?

39He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

40Thou 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.

41And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.

42And 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.

43And 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.

44And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

45And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Asenth, the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:

46(Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao): and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

47And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corm being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

48And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

49And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea: and the plenty exceeded measure.

50And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore unto him.

51And he called the name of the first born Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

52And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.

53Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past,

54The 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.

55And 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.

56And 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.

57And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.

An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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Genesis 41

CHAPTER 41

1After two years Pharaoh saw a dream; he guessed that he stood on a river,

2from which seven fair kine and full fat went up, and [they] were fed in the places of marshes;

3and another seven, foul and lean, came out of the river, and were fed in that brink of the water, in green places;

4and those foul and lean kine devoured those kine of which the fairness and comeliness of their bodies were wonderful. Pharaoh waked,

5and slept again, and he saw another dream; seven ears of corn, full and fair, came forth in one stalk,

6and others, as many ears of corn, thin and smitten with corruption of burning wind, came forth,

7devouring all the fairness of the first. Pharaoh waked after this rest,

8and when the morrowtide was made, he was afeared by inward dread, and he sent to all the expounders of Egypt, and to all the wise men; and when they were called, he told the dream, and none was that expounded it.

9Then at the last, the master butler bethought to him, and said to Pharaoh, I acknowledge my sin;

10the king was wroth to his servants, and commanded me and the master baker to be cast down into the prison of the prince of knights,

11where we both saw a dream in one night, before-showing of things to come.

12An Hebrew child, servant of the same duke of knights, was there, to whom we told the dreams, and heard whatever thing the befalling of [the] thing proved afterward;

13for I am restored to mine office, and he was hanged in a cross.

14Anon at the behest of the king, they polled Joseph, led him out of the prison, and when his clothing was changed, they brought him to the king.

15To whom the king said, I saw dreams, and none [there] is that expoundeth those things that I saw; I have heard that thou expoundest such things most prudently.

16Joseph answered, Without me, God shall answer prosperities to Pharaoh.

17Therefore Pharaoh told that that he saw; I guessed that I stood on the brink of the flood,

18and seven kine, full fair, with flesh able to eating, went up from the water, which kine gathered green sedges in the pasture of the marshes;

19and lo! seven other kine, so foul and lean, followed these, that I saw never such in the land of Egypt;

20and when the former kine were devoured and wasted of the lean kine,

21the lean kine gave no step, or token, of fullness, but were slow, or feeble, by like leanness and paleness. I waked,

22and again I was oppressed by sleep, and I saw a dream; seven ears of corn, full and most fair, came forth on one stalk,

23and another seven, thin and smitten with [a] burning wind, came forth of the stubble,

24which devoured the fairness of the former; I told this dream to [the] expounders, and no man there is that expoundeth it.

25Joseph answered, The dream of the king is one; God hath showed to Pharaoh what things he shall do.

26Seven fair kine, and seven full ears of corn, be seven years of plenty, and the same things comprehend the strength of the dream;

27and [the] seven kine, thin and lean, that went up after the fair kine, and the seven thin ears of corn, and smitten with [a] burning wind, be seven years of hunger to coming [or to come],

28which shall be fulfilled by this order.

29Lo! seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt shall come,

30and seven other years of so great barrenness shall pursue [or follow] those, that all the abundance before shall be given to forgetting; for hunger shall waste all the land,

31and the greatness of neediness shall waste the greatness of plenty.

32Forsooth this that thou sawest the second time in a dream pertaining to the same thing, is a showing of firm-ness, that is, a confirming of the first, for the word of God shall be done, and it shall be [ful] filled full swiftly.

33Now therefore purvey the king a wise man and a ready, and make the king him sovereign to the land of Egypt,

34which man ordain governors by all countries, and gather he into barns the fifth part of fruits by [the] seven years of plenty, that shall come now;

35and all the wheat be kept under the power of Pharaoh, and be it kept in [the] cities,

36and be it made ready to the hunger to coming [or to come] of the seven years that shall oppress Egypt, and the land be not wasted by poverty.

37The counsel of Joseph pleased Pharaoh, and all his servants,

38and he spake to them, Whether we be able to find such a man which is full of God’s spirit?

39Therefore Pharaoh said to Joseph, For God hath showed to thee all things which thou hast spoken, whether I may find a wiser man than thou, and like to thee?

40Therefore thou shalt be over mine house, and all the people shall obey to the behest of thy mouth; I shall pass thee only by one throne of the realm.

41And again Pharaoh said to Joseph, Lo! I have ordained thee on all the land of Egypt.

42And Pharaoh took off the ring from his hand, and gave it in the hand of Joseph, and he clothed Joseph with a stole of bis, or of white silk, and he put a golden wreath about his neck;

43and Pharaoh made Joseph to go upon his second chariot, while a beadle cried, that all men should kneel before him, and should know that he was sovereign of all the land of Egypt.

44And the king said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, without thy behest no man shall stir hand either foot in all the land of Egypt.

45And Pharaoh turned the name of Joseph, and called him by the Egyptian language, The Saviour of the World#41:45 In Hebrew, it is ‘showing privates’, as Jerome and Lira here say, (or it is ‘The one showing secrets’, or revealing mysteries, as Jerome and Nicholas of Lira say here)., or Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave to Joseph a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of Heliopolis, that is, The City of the Sun. And so Joseph went out to the land of Egypt.

46Forsooth Joseph was of thirty years, when he stood in the sight of king Pharaoh, and compassed all the countries [or regions] of Egypt.

47And the plenty of [the] seven years came, and [the] ripe corns were bound into handfuls or sheaves,

48and they were gathered into the barns of Egypt, also all the abundance of ripe corns was kept in all cities,

49and so great abundance was of wheat, that it was made even to the gravel, or the sand, of the sea, and the plenty passed measure.

50Soothly two sons were born to Joseph before that the hunger came, which Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of Heliopolis, childed to him.

51And Joseph called the name of the first begotten son, Manasseh, and said, God hath made me to forget all my travails, and the house of my father;

52and he called the name of the second son Ephraim, and said, God hath made me to increase in the land of my poverty.

53Therefore when seven years of plenty that were in Egypt were passed,

54 [the] seven years of poverty began to come, which Joseph before-said, and hunger had the mastery in all the world; also hunger was in all the land of Egypt;

55and when that land hungered, the people cried to Pharaoh, and asked for meats; to whom he answered, Go ye to Joseph, and do ye whatever thing he saith to you.

56Forsooth hunger increased each day in all the land, and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold corn to the Egyptians, for also hunger oppressed them;

57and all [the] provinces came into Egypt to buy corns, and to abate the evil of neediness.

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