Genesis 41
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.
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.