3and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean [in] flesh, and they stand near the kine on the edge of the River,

4and the kine of bad appearance and lean [in] flesh eat up the seven kine of fair appearance, and fat — and Pharaoh awaketh.

5And he sleepeth, and dreameth a second time, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat and good,

6and lo, seven ears, thin, and blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them;

7and the thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears — and Pharaoh awaketh, and lo, a dream.

8And it cometh to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sendeth and calleth all the scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounteth to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh.

9And the chief of the butlers speaketh with Pharaoh, saying, ‘My sin I mention this day:

10Pharaoh hath been wroth against his servants, and giveth me into charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers;

11and we dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed.

12And there [is] with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interpreteth to us our dreams, [to] each according to his dream hath he interpreted,

13and it cometh to pass, as he hath interpreted to us so it hath been, me he put back on my station, and him he hanged.’

14And Pharaoh sendeth and calleth Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaveth, and changeth his garments, and cometh in unto Pharaoh.

15And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘A dream I have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it, and I — I have heard concerning thee, saying, Thou understandest a dream to interpret it,’

16and Joseph answereth Pharaoh, saying, ‘Without me — God doth answer Pharaoh with peace.’

17And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph: ‘In my dream, lo, I am standing by the edge of the River,

18and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat [in] flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds;

19and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean [in] flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness.

20‘And the lean and the bad kine eat up the first seven fat kine,

21and they come in unto their midst, and it hath not been known that they have come in unto their midst, and their appearance [is] bad as at the commencement; and I awake.

22‘And I see in my dream, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, full and good;

23and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them;

24and the thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell unto the scribes, and there is none declaring to me.’

25And Joseph saith unto Pharaoh, ‘The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he hath declared to Pharaoh;

26the seven good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dream is one;

27and the seven thin and bad kine which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are seven years of famine;

28this [is] the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: That which God is doing, he hath shewn Pharaoh.

29‘Lo, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt,

30and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine hath finished the land,

31and the plenty is not known in the land because of that famine afterwards, for it [is] very grievous.

32‘And because of the repeating of the dream unto Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it.

33‘And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt;

34let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty,

35and they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up corn under the hand of Pharaoh — food in the cities; and they have kept [it],

36and the food hath been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off by the famine.’

37And the thing is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants,

38and Pharaoh saith unto his servants, ‘Do we find like this, a man in whom the spirit of God [is]?’

39and Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘After God's causing thee to know all this, there is none intelligent and wise as thou;

40thou — thou art over my house, and at thy mouth do all my people kiss; only in the throne I am greater than thou.’

41And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘See, I have put thee over all the land of Egypt.’

42And Pharaoh turneth aside his seal-ring from off his hand, and putteth it on the hand of Joseph, and clotheth him [with] garments of fine linen, and placeth a chain of gold on his neck,

43and causeth him to ride in the second chariot which he hath, and they proclaim before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ and — to put him over all the land of Egypt.

44And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘I [am] Pharaoh, and without thee a man doth not lift up his hand and his foot in all the land of Egypt;’

45and Pharaoh calleth Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he giveth to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goeth out over the land of Egypt.

46And Joseph [is] a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph goeth out from the presence of Pharaoh, and passeth over through all the land of Egypt;

47and the land maketh in the seven years of plenty by handfuls.

48And he gathereth all the food of the seven years which have been in the land of Egypt, and putteth food in the cities; the food of the field which [is] round about [each] city hath he put in its midst;

49and Joseph gathereth corn as sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until that he hath ceased to number, for there is no number.

50And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine cometh, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him,

51and Joseph calleth the name of the first-born Manasseh: ‘for, God hath made me to forget all my labour, and all the house of my father;’

52and the name of the second he hath called Ephraim: ‘for, God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of mine affliction.’

53And the seven years of plenty are completed which have been in the land of Egypt,

54and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt hath been bread;

55and all the land of Egypt is famished, and the people crieth unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh saith to all the Egyptians, ‘Go unto Joseph; that which he saith to you — do.’

56And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph openeth all [places] which have [corn] in them, and selleth to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt,

57and all the earth hath come to Egypt, to buy, unto Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the earth.

maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society

Learn More

B'resheet (Gen) 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.

CJB brought to you by Messianic Jewish Publishers and Resources
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 41

B'resheet (Gen) 41