Genesis 41 (New American Standard)

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 lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and ^afat ; and they grazed in the ¹marsh grass. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ^bgaunt , and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 The ugly and ^cgaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. 5 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 The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 Now in the morning ²his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the ^d3magicians of Egypt, and all its ⁴wise men. And Pharaoh told them his ^edreams, but ⁵there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh. 9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of ⁶my own ^foffenses. 10 "Pharaoh was ⁷furious with his servants, and ⁸he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. 11 "⁹We had a dream ^gon the same night, ^hhe and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. 12 "Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a ¹⁰servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them to him, and ¹¹he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream. 13 "And just ¹²as he interpreted for us, so it happened ; he restored me in my ⁱoffice, but he hanged him."

Joseph Interprets

14 Then Pharaoh sent and ¹³called for Joseph, and they ¹⁴hurriedly 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, ¹⁵but no one can interpret it; and ¹⁶I have heard ^jit said about you, that ^kwhen you hear a dream you can interpret it." 16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "^l17It is not in me; ¹⁸God will ^mgive Pharaoh a favorable answer." 17 So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile ; 18 and behold, seven cows, ⁿfat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. 19 "Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and ^ogaunt , such as I had never seen for ^pugliness in all the land of Egypt ; 20 and the lean and ^qugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. 21 "Yet when they had ^rdevoured them, it could not be ^sdetected that they had ^tdevoured them, ^ufor they were just as ugly as ^vbefore. Then I awoke. 22 "I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk ; 23 and lo, 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 ¹⁹I told it to the ^wmagicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me." 25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's ^xdreams are one and the same; ²⁰God 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 ^ydreams are one and the same. 27 "The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ²¹will be seven years of famine. 28 "^zIt is as I have spoken to Pharaoh : ²²God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 "Behold, ²³seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt ; 30 and after them ²⁴seven years of famine will ^aacome, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^bbravage 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 ²⁵the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about. 33 "Now let Pharaoh look for a man ²⁶discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 "Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^ccin charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35 "Then let them ²⁷gather 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 let them guard it. 36 "Let the food become 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 ^ddproposal seemed good ^eeto Pharaoh and ^ffto all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, ²⁸in whom is a divine spirit ?" 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so ²⁹discerning and wise as you are. 40 "³⁰You shall be over my house, and according to your ^ggcommand all my people shall ^hhdo homage ; only in the throne I will be greater than you." 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you ³¹over all the land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh ³²took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and ³³put the gold necklace around his neck. 43 He had him ride in ⁱⁱhis second chariot ; and they proclaimed before him, "^jjBow the knee !" And he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Though I am Pharaoh, yet ³⁴without ^kkyour permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." 45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^llZaphenath-paneah ; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^mm35On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. 46 Now Joseph was ³⁶thirty years old when he ⁿⁿstood before 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 brought forth ^ooabundantly. 48 So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities ; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. 49 Thus Joseph stored up grain ^ppin great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^qqmeasuring it, for it was ^rrbeyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

50 Now before the year of famine came, ³⁷two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^ssOn, bore to him. 51 Joseph named the firstborn ^ttManasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." 52 He named the second ^uuEphraim, "For," he said, "³⁸God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." 53 When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and ³⁹the 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 was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread ; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph ; ⁴⁰whatever he says to you, you shall do." 56 When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^vvthe storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians ; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ⁴¹the famine was severe in all the earth.