Genesis 41
41
1 AFTER TWO full years, Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the river [Nile].
2 And behold, there came up out of the river [Nile] seven well-favored cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the reed grass [in a marshy pasture].
3 And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river [Nile], ill favored and gaunt and ugly, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the river [Nile].
4 And the ill-favored, gaunt, and ugly cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5 But he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came out on one stalk, plump and good.
6 And behold, after them seven ears [of grain] sprouted, thin and blighted by the east wind.
7 And the seven thin ears [of grain] devoured the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8 So when morning came his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but not one could interpret them to [him].
9 Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, I remember my faults today.
10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker,
11 We dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; we dreamed each of us according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his dream.
12 And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard and chief executioner; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them to us, to each man according to the significance of his dream.
13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office [as chief butler], and the baker was hanged.
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. But Joseph [first] shaved himself, changed his clothes, and made himself presentable; then he came into Pharaoh's presence.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.
16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me; God [not I] will give Pharaoh a [favorable] answer of peace.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the river [Nile];
18 And behold, there came up out of the river [Nile] seven fat, sleek, and handsome cows, and they grazed in the reed grass [of a marshy pasture].
19 And behold, seven other cows came up after them, undernourished, gaunt, and ugly [just skin and bones; such emaciated animals] as I have never seen in all of Egypt.
20 And the lean and ill favored cows ate up the seven fat cows that had come first.
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be detected and known that they had eaten them, for they were still as thin and emaciated as at the beginning. Then I awoke. [But again I fell asleep and dreamed.]
22 And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears [of grain] growing on one stalk, plump and good.
23 And behold, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could tell me what it meant.
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The [two] dreams are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears [of grain] are seven years; the [two] dreams are one [in their meaning].
27 And the seven thin and ill favored cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears [of grain], blighted and shriveled by the east wind; they are seven years of hunger and famine.
28 This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 Take note! Seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming.
30 Then there will come seven years of hunger and famine, and [there will be so much want that] all the great abundance of the previous years will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and hunger (destitution, starvation) will exhaust (consume, finish) the land.
31 And the plenty will become quite unknown in the land because of that following famine, for it will be very woefully severe.
32 That the dream was sent twice to Pharaoh and in two forms indicates that this thing which God will very soon bring to pass is fully prepared and established by God.
33 So now let Pharaoh seek out and provide a man discreet, understanding, proficient, and wise and set him over the land of Egypt [as governor].
34 Let Pharaoh do this; then let him select and appoint officers over the land, and take one-fifth [of the produce] of the [whole] land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years [year by year].
35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them retain food [in fortified granaries] in the cities.
36 And that food shall be put in store for the country against the seven years of hunger and famine that are to come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not be ruined and cut off by the famine.
37 And the plan seemed good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find this man's equal, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as [your] God has shown you all this, there is nobody as intelligent and discreet and understanding and wise as you are.
40 You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word [with reverence, submission, and obedience]. Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are.
41 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.
42 And Pharaoh took off his [signet] ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck;
43 He made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and [officials] cried before him, Bow the knee! And he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph made an [inspection] tour of all the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph [who had been in Egypt thirteen years] was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went [about his duties] through all the land of Egypt.
47 In the seven abundant years the earth brought forth by handfuls [for each seed planted].
48 And he gathered up all the [surplus] food of the seven [good] years in the land of Egypt and stored up the food in the cities; he stored away in each city the food from the fields around it.
49 And Joseph gathered grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it could not be measured.
50 Now to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore to him.
51 And Joseph called the firstborn Manasseh [making to forget], For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil and hardship and all my father's house.
52 And the second he called Ephraim [to be fruitful], For [he said] God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53 When the seven years of plenty were ended in the land of Egypt,
54 The seven years of scarcity and famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt there was food.
55 But when all the land of Egypt was weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.
56 When the famine was over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; for the famine grew extremely distressing in the land of Egypt.
57 And all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all [the known] earth.
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Genesis 41: AMPC
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B'resheet (Gen) 41
41
Parashah 10: Mikketz (At the end) 41:1–44:17
1At the end of two years, Pharaoh had a dream: he was standing beside the Nile River; 2and there came up out of the river seven cows, sleek and fat; and they began feeding in swamp grass. 3After them, there came up out of the river seven more cows, miserable-looking and lean; and they stood by the other cows at the edge of the river. 4Then the miserable-looking and lean cows ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. At this point Pharaoh woke up. 5But he went to sleep again and dreamt a second time: seven full, ripe ears of grain grew out of a single stalk. 6After them, seven ears, thin and blasted by the east wind, sprang up. 7And the thin ears swallowed up the seven full, ripe ears. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it had been a dream.
8In the morning he found himself so upset that he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one there could interpret them for him. 9Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today reminds me of something wherein I am at fault: 10Pharaoh was angry with his officials and put me in the prison of the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. 11One night both I and he had dreams, and each man’s dream had its own meaning. 12There was with us a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the guard; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us — he interpreted each man’s dream individually. 13And it came about as he interpreted to us — I was restored to my office, and he was hanged.”
14Then Pharaoh summoned Yosef, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh.
(A: ii) 15Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; but I’ve heard it said about you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.” 16Yosef answered Pharaoh, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer that will set his mind at peace.” (S: ii) 17Pharaoh said to Yosef, “In my dream, I stood at the edge of the river; 18and there came up out of the river seven cows, fat and sleek; and they began feeding in the swamp grass. 19After them, there came up out of the river seven more cows, poor, miserable-looking and lean — I’ve never seen such bad-looking cows in all the land of Egypt! 20Then the lean and miserable-looking cows ate up the first seven fat cows. 21But after they had eaten them up, one couldn’t tell that they had eaten them; because they were as miserable-looking as before. At this point I woke up. 22But I dreamed again and saw seven full, ripe ears of grain growing out of a single stalk. 23After them, seven ears, thin and blasted by the east wind, sprang up. 24And the thin ears swallowed up the seven ripe ears. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25Yosef said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are the same: God has told Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears of grain are seven years — the dreams are the same. 27Likewise the seven lean and miserable-looking cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted by the east wind — there will be seven years of famine. 28This is what I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29Here it is: there will be seven years of abundance throughout the whole land of Egypt; 30but afterwards, there will come seven years of famine; and Egypt will forget all the abundance. The famine will consume the land, 31and the abundance will not be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, because it will be truly terrible. 32Why was the dream doubled for Pharaoh? Because the matter has been fixed by God, and God will shortly cause it to happen.
33“Therefore, Pharaoh should look for a man both discreet and wise to put in charge of the land of Egypt. 34Pharaoh should do this, and he should appoint supervisors over the land to receive a twenty percent tax on the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35They should gather all the food produced during these good years coming up and set aside grain under the supervision of Pharaoh to be used for food in the cities, and they should store it. 36This will be the land’s food supply for the seven years of famine that will come over the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish as a result of the famine.”
37The proposal seemed good both to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38Pharaoh said to his officials, “Can we find anyone else like him? The Spirit of God lives in him!”
(iii) 39So Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Since God has shown you all this — there is no one as discerning and wise as you — 40you will be in charge of my household; all my people will be ruled by what you say. Only when I rule from my throne will I be greater than you.” 41Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Here, I place you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Yosef’s hand, had him clothed in fine linen with a gold chain around his neck 43and had him ride in his second best chariot; and they cried before him, “Bow down!” Thus he placed him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I, Pharaoh, decree that without your approval no one is to raise his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45Pharaoh called Yosef by the name Tzafnat-Pa‘neach and gave him as his wife Osnat the daughter of Poti-Fera priest of On. Then Yosef went out through all the land of Egypt.
46Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; then he left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled through all the land of Egypt. 47During the seven years of abundance, the earth brought forth heaps of produce. 48He collected all the food of these seven years in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities — the food grown in the fields outside each city he stored in that city. 49Yosef stored grain in quantities like the sand on the seashore, so much that they stopped counting, because it was beyond measure.
50Two sons were born to Yosef before the year of famine came; Osnat the daughter of Poti-Fera priest of On bore them to him. 51Yosef called the firstborn M’nasheh [causing to forget], “Because God has caused me to forget all the troubles I suffered at the hands of my family.” 52The second he called Efrayim [fruit], “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortune.”
(iv) 53The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt ended; 54and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Yosef had said. There was famine in all lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 55When the whole land of Egypt started feeling the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Yosef, and do what he tells you to do.” 56The famine was over all the earth, but then Yosef opened all the storehouses and sold food to the Egyptians, since the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57Moreover all countries came to Egypt to Yosef to buy grain, because the famine was severe throughout the earth.
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