New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
1
Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile;
2 and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass.
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And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
3 Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
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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 The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
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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 Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one 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 Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
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And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.
7 The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was 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 spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
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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, "I remember my faults today.
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Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now;
10 Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody 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 We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.
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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 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to 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 As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."
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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 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in 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 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. 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 Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."
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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 banks of the Nile;
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Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.
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And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
19 Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones 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 thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows,
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And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first;
21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke.
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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 I fell asleep a second time and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one 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 and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them;
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And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who 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, "Pharaoh's dreams 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 ears are seven years; the dreams are one.
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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 and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted 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 as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to 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 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.
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Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt;
30 After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume 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 plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous.
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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 And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
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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 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over 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 proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years.
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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 Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
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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 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through 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 proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.
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And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38 Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find anyone else like this—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 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, 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 over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard 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 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
42 Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph's hand; he arrayed him in garments 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 the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the 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 Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of 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 he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over 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 the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of 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 plenteous years the earth produced abundantly.
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Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around 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 So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; 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, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
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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 the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."
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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 he named Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes."
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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 plenty that prevailed in the land of 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 to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread.
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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 the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do."
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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 And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of 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 Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.
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And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.