Genesis 41
41
1And it cometh to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and lo, he is standing by the River,
2and lo, from the River coming up are seven kine, of fair appearance, and fat [in] flesh, and they feed among the reeds;
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.
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Genesis 41: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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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