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Pharaoh's Dream

¹ Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the ^(F1)Nile.² And lo, there came up out of the Nile seven healthy cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the ^(C1)reed grass in a marshy pasture.³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, ugly and gaunt and raw-boned, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the Nile.⁴ Then the ugly and gaunt and raw-boned cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.⁵ Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.⁶ Then behold, seven ears of grain, thin and dried up by the east wind, sprouted after them.⁷ Then the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream.⁸ So when morning came ^(C1)his spirit was troubled and disturbed and he sent and called for all the ^(C2)magicians and all the ^(C3)wise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but ^(C4)no one could interpret them to him.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would mention ^(C1)my faults today.¹⁰ "Two years ago Pharaoh was ^(C1)angry with his servants, and ^(C2)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker.¹¹ "^(C1)We dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the significance of the interpretation of his own dream.¹² "Now there was with us in the prison a young man, a Hebrew, ^(C1)servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and ^(C2)he interpreted our dreams for us, to each man according to the significance of his own dream.¹³ "And just ^(C1)as he interpreted the dreams for us, so it happened; I was restored to my office as chief cupbearer, and the baker was hanged."

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and ^(C1)called for Joseph, and they ^(C2)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when Joseph shaved himself and changed his clothes making himself presentable, he came to Pharaoh.¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and ^(C1)there is no one who can interpret it; and ^(C2)I have heard it said about you that you can understand a dream and interpret it."¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, "^(C1)It is not in me to interpret the dream; ^(C2)God not I will give Pharaoh a ^(F1)favorable answer through me."¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;¹⁸ and seven fat, sleek and handsome cows came up out of the river, and they grazed in the reed grass of a marshy pasture.¹⁹ "Lo, seven other cows came up after them, very ugly and gaunt just skin and bones; such emaciated animals as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt.²⁰ "And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.²¹ "Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had eaten them, because they were still as thin and emaciated as before. Then I awoke but again I fell asleep and dreamed.²² "I saw in my second dream, seven ears of grain, plump and good, growing on a single stalk;²³ and lo, seven other ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them;²⁴ and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now ^(C1)I told this to the magicians and soothsayers, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The two dreams are one and the same and have one interpretation; ^(C1)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.²⁶ "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the two dreams are one and the same.²⁷ "The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and also the seven thin ears, dried up and scorched by the east wind, ^(C1)they are seven years of famine and hunger.²⁸ "This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: ^(C1)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.²⁹ "Listen very carefully: ^(C1)seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt;³⁰ but afterward ^(C1)seven years of famine and hunger will come, and there will be such desperate need that all the great abundance of the previous years will be forgotten in the land of Egypt as if it never happened, and famine and destitution will ravage and destroy the land.³¹ "So the great abundance will become forgotten in the land because of that subsequent famine, for it will be very severe.³² "That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh and in two different ways indicates that ^(C1)this matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly.³³ "So now let Pharaoh prepare ahead and look for a man ^(C1)discerning and clear-headed and wise, and set him in charge over the land of Egypt as governor under Pharaoh.³⁴ "Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers and officials over the land, and set aside one-fifth of the produce of the entire land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.³⁵ "Let them ^(C1)gather as a tax all of the fifth of the food of these good years that are coming, and store up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them guard the food in fortified granaries in the cities.³⁶ "That food shall be put in storage as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine and hunger which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land (people) will not be ravaged during the famine."

³⁷ Now the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

⁴⁶ Now Joseph had been in Egypt thirteen years and was ^(C1)thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph departed from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt performing his duties.⁴⁷ In the seven abundant years the earth produced handfuls for each seed planted.⁴⁸ And Joseph gathered all the surplus food of the seven good years in the land of Egypt and stored enormous quantities of the food in the cities. He stored away in every city the food collected from its own surrounding fields.⁴⁹ Thus Joseph gathered and stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting it, for it could not be measured.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now ^(C1)two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (causing to forget), for he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and hardship and all the sorrow of the loss of my father's household."⁵² He named the second son Ephraim (fruitfulness), for "^(C1)God has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering."

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty came to an end in the land of Egypt,^54 (C1)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all the surrounding lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread (food).⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; do ^(C1)whatever he says to you."⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold surplus grain to the Egyptians; and the famine grew extremely severe in the land of Egypt.⁵⁷ And the people of all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because ^(C1)the famine was severe over all the known earth.