New International Version NIV
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile,
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Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile;
2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
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And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank.
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And after them seven other cows came out of the Nile, poor-looking and thin; and they were by the side of the other cows.
4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
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And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.
5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk.
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But he went to sleep again and had a second dream, in which he saw seven heads of grain, full and good, all on one stem.
6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind.
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And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.
7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
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And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.
8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
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And in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and all the holy men, and put his dream before them, but no one was able to give him the sense of it.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.
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Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now;
10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.
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Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker;
11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
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And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.
12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.
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And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant, and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of them.
13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
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And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
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Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and no one is able to give me the sense of it; now it has come to my ears that you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before you.
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
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Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,
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Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.
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And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt.
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Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt;
20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first.
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And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first;
21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
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And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk.
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And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem:
23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind.
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And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
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And the seven thin heads made a meal of the seven good heads; and I put this dream before the wise men, but not one of them was able to give me the sense of it.
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
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Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream.
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The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense.
27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
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The seven thin and poor-looking cows who came up after them are seven years; and the seven heads of grain, dry and wasted by the east wind, are seven years when there will be no food.
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
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As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do.
29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
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Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt;
30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.
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And after that will come seven years when there will not be enough food; and the memory of the good years will go from men's minds; and the land will be made waste by the bad years;
31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe.
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And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.
32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
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And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.
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And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
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Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land in the good years.
35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.
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And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.
36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
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And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.
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And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God ?”
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Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good sense as you:
40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
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You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you.
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
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Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck;
43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way !” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
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And he made him take his seat in the second of his carriages; and they went before him crying, Make way! So he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
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Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.
45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
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And Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, the priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph went through all the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.
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Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully.
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Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it.
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And Joseph got together all the food of those seven years, and made a store of food in the towns: the produce of the fields round every town was stored up in the town.
49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
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So he got together a store of grain like the sand of the sea; so great a store that after a time he gave up measuring it, for it might not be measured.
50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
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And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.
51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”
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And to the first he gave the name Manasseh, for he said, God has taken away from me all memory of my hard life and of my father's house.
52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
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And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end,
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And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.
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Then came the first of the seven years of need as Joseph had said: and in every other land they were short of food; but in the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”
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And when all the land of Egypt was in need of food, the people came crying to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to the people, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do it.
56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.
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And everywhere on the earth they were short of food; then Joseph, opening all his store-houses, gave the people of Egypt grain for money; so great was the need of food in the land of Egypt.
57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
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And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.