Genesis 41
41
The King’s Dreams
1Two years later the king had a dream. He dreamed he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. 2He saw seven fat and beautiful cows come up out of the river. They stood there, eating the grass. 3Then seven more cows came up out of the river. But they were thin and ugly. They stood beside the seven beautiful cows on the bank of the Nile. 4The seven thin and ugly cows ate the seven beautiful fat cows. Then the king woke up. 5The king slept again and dreamed a second time. In his dream he saw seven full and good heads of grain growing on one stalk. 6After that, seven more heads of grain sprang up. But they were thin and burned by the hot east wind. 7The thin heads of grain ate the seven full and good heads. Then the king woke up again. And he realized it was only a dream. 8The next morning the king was troubled about these dreams. So he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. The king told them his dreams. But no one could explain their meaning to him.
9Then the chief officer who served wine to the king said to him, “I remember something I promised to do. But I had forgotten about it. 10There was a time when you were angry with me and the baker. You put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. 11In prison we each had a dream on the same night. Each dream had a different meaning. 12A young Hebrew man was in the prison with us. He was a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he explained their meanings to us. He told each man the meaning of his dream. 13Things happened exactly as he said they would: I was given back my old position, and the baker was hanged.”
14So the king called for Joseph. The guards quickly brought him out of the prison. He shaved, put on clean clothes and went before the king.
15The king said to Joseph, “I have had a dream. But no one can explain its meaning to me. I have heard that you can explain a dream when someone tells it to you.”
16Joseph answered the king, “I am not able to explain the meaning of dreams. God will do this for the king.”
17Then the king said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. 18I saw seven fat and beautiful cows. They came up out of the river and ate the grass. 19Then I saw seven more cows come out of the river. They were thin and lean and ugly. They were the worst looking cows I have seen in all the land of Egypt. 20And these thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. 21But after they had eaten the seven cows, no one could tell they had eaten them. They just looked as thin and ugly as they did in the beginning. Then I woke up.
22“I had another dream. I saw seven full and good heads of grain growing on one stalk. 23Then seven more heads of grain sprang up after them. But these heads were thin and ugly. They were burned by the hot east wind. 24Then the thin heads ate the seven good heads. I told this dream to the magicians. But no one could explain its meaning to me.”
Joseph Tells the Dreams’ Meaning
25Then Joseph said to the king, “Both of these dreams mean the same thing. God is telling you what he is about to do. 26The seven good cows stand for seven years. And the seven good heads of grain stand for seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing. 27The seven thin and ugly cows stand for seven years. And the seven thin heads of grain burned by the hot east wind stand for seven years of hunger. 28This will happen as I told you. God is showing the king what he is about to do. 29You will have seven years of good crops and plenty to eat in all the land of Egypt. 30But after those seven years, there will come seven years of hunger. All the food that grew in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The time of hunger will eat up the land. 31People will forget what it was like to have plenty of food. This is because the hunger that follows will be so great. 32You had two dreams which mean the same thing. This shows that God has firmly decided that this will happen. And he will make it happen soon.
33“So let the king choose a man who is very wise and understanding. Let the king set him over the land of Egypt. 34And let the king also appoint officers over the land. They should take one-fifth of all the food that is grown during the seven good years. 35They should gather all the food that is produced during the good years that are coming. Under the king’s authority they should store the grain in the cities and guard it. 36That food should be saved for later. It will be used during the seven years of hunger that will come on the land of Egypt. Then the people in Egypt will not die during the seven years of hunger.”
Joseph Is Made Ruler over Egypt
37This seemed like a very good idea to the king. All his officers agreed. 38And the king asked them, “Can we find a better man than Joseph to take this job? God’s spirit is truly in him!”
39So the king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this. There is no one as wise and understanding as you are. 40I will put you in charge of my palace. All the people will obey your orders. Only I will be greater than you.”
41Then the king said to Joseph, “Look! I have put you in charge of all the land of Egypt.” 42Then the king took off from his own finger his ring with the royal seal on it. And he put it on Joseph’s finger. He gave Joseph fine linen clothes to wear. And he put a gold chain around Joseph’s neck. 43The king had Joseph ride in the second royal chariot. Men walked ahead of his chariot calling, “Bow down!” By doing these things, the king put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt.
44The king said to him, “I am the king. And I say that no one in all the land of Egypt may lift a hand or a foot unless you say he may.” 45The king gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave Joseph a wife named Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. So Joseph traveled through all the land of Egypt.
46Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving the king of Egypt. And he left the king’s court and traveled through all the land of Egypt. 47During the seven good years, the crops in the land grew well. 48And Joseph gathered all the food produced in Egypt during those seven years of good crops. He stored the food in the cities. In every city he stored grain that had been grown in the fields around that city. 49Joseph stored much grain, as much as the sand of the seashore. He stored so much grain that he could not measure it.
50Joseph’s wife was Asenath daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. Before the years of hunger came, Joseph and Asenath had two sons. 51Joseph named the first son Manasseh.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “made me forget.” Joseph said, “God has made me forget all the troubles I have had and all my father’s family.” 52Joseph named the second son Ephraim.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “given me children.” Joseph said, “God has given me children in the land of my troubles.”
53The seven years of good crops came to an end in the land of Egypt. 54Then the seven years of hunger began, just as Joseph had said. In all the lands people had nothing to eat. But in Egypt there was food. 55The time of hunger became terrible in all of Egypt. The people cried to the king for food. He said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you to do.”
56The hunger was everywhere in that part of the world. And Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the people of Egypt. This was because the time of hunger became terrible in Egypt. 57And all the people in that part of the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain. This was because the hunger was terrible everywhere in that part of the world.
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Genesis 41: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Berĕshith (Genesis) 41
41
1And it came to be, at the end of two years’ time, that Pharaoh had a dream, and saw him standing by the river,
2and saw seven cows coming up out of the river, beautiful looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,
3then saw seven other cows coming up after them out of the river, ugly and lean of flesh, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.
4And the ugly and lean of flesh cows ate up the seven beautiful looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5And he slept and dreamed a second time and saw seven heads of grain coming up on one stalk, plump and good,
6and saw seven lean heads, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.
7And the seven lean heads swallowed the seven plump and complete heads. Then Pharaoh awoke and saw it was a dream.
8And it came to be in the morning that his spirit was moved, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Mitsrayim and all its wise men. And Pharaoh related to them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my crimes this day.
10“When Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker,
11each one of us dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12“And there was with us a Hebrew youth, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we related to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13And it came to be, as he interpreted for us, so it came to be. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.
14Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosĕph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. And he shaved and changed his garments, and came to Pharaoh.
15And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. Now I myself have heard it said of you that you understand a dream, to interpret it.”
16And Yosĕph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me, let Elohim answer Pharaoh with peace.”
17And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “See, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river
18and saw seven cows coming up out of the river, beautiful looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,
19then saw seven other cows coming up after them, poor and very ugly and lean of flesh, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Mitsrayim.
20“And the lean of flesh and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.
21“Yet when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke.
22“Also, I looked in my dream and saw seven heads coming up on one stalk, complete and good,
23then saw seven heads, withered, lean, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.
24“And the lean heads swallowed the seven good heads. And I spoke to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25And Yosĕph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:
26“The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years – it is one dream.
27“And the seven lean and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads scorched by the east wind are seven years of scarcity of food.
28“This is the word which I spoke to Pharaoh: Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29See, seven years of great plenty are coming in all the land of Mitsrayim,”
30but after them seven years of scarcity of food shall arise and all the plenty be forgotten in the land of Mitsrayim. And the scarcity of food shall destroy the land,
31and the plenty shall not be remembered in the land, because of the scarcity of food following, for it is very severe.
32“And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the word is established by Elohim, and Elohim is hastening to do it.
33“And now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Mitsrayim.
34“Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, to take up one-fifth of the land of Mitsrayim in the seven years of plenty.
35“And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36And the food shall be for a store for the land for the seven years of scarcity of food which shall be in the land of Mitsrayim, and do not let the land be cut off by the scarcity of food.
37And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
38And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?”
39Then Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “Since Elohim has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
40Be over my house, you yourself, and at your mouth all my people shall kiss – only in the throne I am greater than you.
41And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Mitsrayim.”
42And Pharaoh took his seal-ring off his hand and put it on Yosĕph’s hand. And he dressed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Mitsrayim.
44And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you let no man lift his hand or foot in all the land of Mitsrayim.”
45And Pharaoh called Yosĕph’s name Zaphnath-Pa‛nĕaḥ. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. And Yosĕph went out over all the land of Mitsrayim.
46Now Yosĕph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim. And Yosĕph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mitsrayim.
47And in the seven years of plenty the ground brought forth generously.
48And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Mitsrayim, and laid up the food in the cities. He laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.
49Thus Yosĕph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he ceased counting, for it was without number.
50And to Yosĕph were born two sons before the years of scarcity of food came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51And Yosĕph called the name of the first-born Menashsheh, “For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
52And the name of the second he called Ephrayim, “For Elohim has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53And the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Mitsrayim came to an end,
54and the seven years of scarcity of food began to come, as Yosĕph had said. And the scarcity of food was in all lands, but in all the land of Mitsrayim there was bread.
55But when all the land of Mitsrayim hungered, and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh said to all the Mitsrites, “Go to Yosĕph, do whatever he says to you.”
56And the scarcity of food was over all the face of the earth, and Yosĕph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Mitsrites. And the scarcity of food was severe in the land of Mitsrayim.
57And all the earth came to Yosĕph in Mitsrayim to buy grain, because the scarcity of food was severe in all the earth.
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