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Pharaoh's Dream

¹ Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.² And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and ^(F1)fat; and they grazed in the ^(C1)marsh grass.³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ^(F1)thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.⁴ Then the ugly and ^(F1)thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.⁵ But 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, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.⁷ And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.⁸ Now in the morning ^(C1)his spirit was troubled, so he sent messengers and called for all the ^(C2)soothsayer priests of Egypt, and all its ^(C3)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his ^(F1)dreams, but ^(C4)there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of ^(C1)my own ^(F1)offenses.¹⁰ "Pharaoh was ^(C1)furious with his servants, and ^(C2)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker.¹¹ "Then ^(C1)we had a dream one night, ^(F1)he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.¹² "Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a ^(C1)servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and ^(C2)he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream.¹³ "And just ^(C1)as he interpreted for us, so it happened; Pharaoh restored me in my office, but he hanged ^(F1)the chief baker."

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent word and ^(C1)called for Joseph, and they ^(C2)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, ^(C1)but no one can interpret it; and ^(C2)I have heard ^(F1)it said about you, that ^(F2)when you hear a dream you can interpret it."¹⁶ Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "^(F1)(C1)It has nothing to do with me; ^(C2)God will ^(F2)give Pharaoh an answer for his own good."¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile;¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, ^(F1)fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.¹⁹ "Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^(F1)ugly and ^(F2)thin, such as I had never seen for ^(F3)ugliness in all the land of Egypt;²⁰ and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows.²¹ "Yet when they had ^(F1)devoured them, it could not be ^(F2)detected that they had ^(F1)devoured them, ^(F3)for they were just as ugly as ^(F4)before. Then I awoke.²² "I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk;²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them;²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(C1)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

²⁵ And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's ^(F1)dreams are one and the same; ^(C1)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.²⁶ "The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ^(F1)dreams are one and the same.²⁷ "The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(C1)will be seven years of famine.²⁸ "^(F1)It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(C1)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.²⁹ "Behold, ^(C1)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;³⁰ and after them ^(C1)seven years of famine will ^(F1)come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^(F2)ravage the land.³¹ "So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.³² "Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(C1)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.³³ "So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^(C1)discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt.³⁴ "Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^(F1)in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance.³⁵ "Then have them ^(C1)collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh's authority, and have them guard it.³⁶ "Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine."

³⁷ Now the ^(F1)proposal seemed good ^(F2)to Pharaoh and ^(F2)to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was ^(C1)thirty years old when he ^(F1)stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land produced ^(F1)abundantly.⁴⁸ So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain ^(F1)in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^(F2)measuring it, for it was ^(F3)beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(C1)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^(F1)On, bore to him.⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^(F1)Manasseh; "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father's household."⁵² And he named the second ^(F1)Ephraim; "For," he said, "^(C1)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end,⁵⁴ and ^(C1)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; ^(C1)whatever he says to you, you shall do."⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^(F1)the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(C1)the famine was severe in all the earth.