Genesis
41 And at the end of two years’ time the Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and seven handsome plump cows came up out of the Nile and grazed in the fens, 3* and seven other cows, lean and ugly, came up out of the Nile after them and stood beside them on the bank of the Nile; 4 and the ugly lean cows ate up the seven handsome plump cows, and the Pharaoh woke up. 5 And he went to sleep and dreamed over again that seven handsome plump ears of grain came out on one stalk, 6 and seven thin ears blasted by the desert wind sprouted after them; 7 and the thin ears swallowed the plump full ears, and the Pharaoh woke up and found it was a dream.
8 And in the morning he was uncomfortable about it, and sent for all the scholars of Egypt and all the sages. And the Pharaoh told them the story of his dream, and there was nobody who would interpret it to the Pharaoh.
9 And the chief cupbearer spoke to the Pharaoh, saying “I have a confession to make today. 10 The Pharaoh was incensed at his servants and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker; 11 and we had a dream, he and I in the same night; we each dreamed something with a special meaning. 12 And we had with us there a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guard, and we told him about it, and he interpreted to us; 13 and as he interpreted to us, so it came out: me he reinstated and him he hanged.”
14* And the Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him out of the dungeon, and he shaved and changed his clothes and went in to the Pharaoh. 15 And the Pharaoh said to Joseph “I have had a dream, and I have nobody who will interpret it to me; and I have heard it said of you that you understand a dream so as to interpret it.” 16 And Joseph answered the Pharaoh “Not at all; God will answer about the Pharaoh’s prosperity.”
17 And the Pharaoh told Joseph “In my dream I found myself standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 and seven handsome plump cows coming up out of the Nile and grazing in the fens, 19 and seven other cows, lean and very ugly and scrawny, coming up after them—I never saw their like in all Egypt for ugliness; 20 and the ugly lean cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21 and when they had gone into them there was no indication that they had gone into them, they were as ugly as at first; and I woke up. 22 And I saw in my dream that seven handsome full ears of grain came up on one stalk, 23 and seven thin dried-up ears, blasted by the desert wind, sprouted after them; 24 and the thin ears swallowed the seven handsome ears. And I spoke to the scholars, but there was nobody who would tell me.”
25 And Joseph said to the Pharaoh “The Pharaoh’s dream is all one; God has told the Pharaoh what he is going to do. 26 The seven handsome cows are seven years and the seven handsome ears are seven years; it is all one dream. 27 And the seven ugly thin cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty wind-blasted ears: there will be seven years of famine, 28 this is the thing I foretell to the Pharaoh; God has let the Pharaoh see what he is going to do. 29 Here are seven years coming with great abundance in all Egypt; 30 and there will appear seven years of famine after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in Egypt, and the famine will undo all the country, 31 and there will be no indication of the abundance because of the famine afterward, because it will be very severe. 32 And as to the dream’s coming to the Pharaoh in duplicate, it is because the thing is definitely appointed by God and God is speeding the doing of it.
33 “And now let the Pharaoh pick out a wise and intelligent man and set him over Egypt; 34 let the Pharaoh appoint and empower commissioners over the country, and take a fifth of the crops of Egypt in the seven years of abundance, 35 and let them collect all the foodstuffs of Egypt in these good years that are coming and accumulate grain under the Pharaoh’s hands as food in the cities and preserve it; 36 and the foodstuffs will be an insurance to the country for the seven years of famine which there will be in Egypt, and the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”
37 And the Pharaoh and all his officers thought well of the proposal; 38* and the Pharaoh said to his officers “Shall we find anybody like this, a man who has God’s spirit in him?” 39 And the Pharaoh said to Joseph “After God has made known all this to you there is nobody so wise and intelligent as you: 40* you shall be steward of my palace, and all my people shall go by your word; only by the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And the Pharaoh said to Joseph “See, I have put you over all Egypt.” 42 And the Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s, and dressed him in garments of lawn and laid a necklace round his neck, 43 and had him ride in his second chariot, and they called out “Abrec” before him; so he put him over all Egypt. 44 And the Pharaoh said to Joseph “As sure as I am Pharaoh, nobody shall lift hand or foot in Egypt without your authorization.” 45* And the Pharaoh named Joseph Saphenath-Paʽeneah and married him to Asenath the daughter of Poti-pheraʽ the priest of On; and Joseph went out administering all Egypt. 46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
And Joseph went out from before the Pharaoh and made a tour of all Egypt. 47* And in the seven years of abundance the land yielded profusely, 48 and he collected all the foodstuffs of seven years that there were in Egypt, and put foodstuffs in the cities, putting in a city the foodstuffs of the countryside surrounding it. 49 And Joseph accumulated grain in vast quantity, like the sand on the seashore, till they left off keeping accounts because there was no counting it.
50 And Joseph had two sons born to him before the famine year came, sons whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-pheraʽ the priest of On bore to him; 51 and Joseph named the elder Manasseh “because God has made me forget all my hard life and my old home,” 52 and the second he named Ephraim “because God has let me breed in the country of my troubles.”
53 And the seven years of abundance that there had been in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph had said, and there was famine in all countries, but in all Egypt there was bread. 55 And all Egypt grew hungry, and the people cried out to the Pharaoh for bread, and the Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians “Go to Joseph, you are to do as he tells you.” 56* And the famine came all over the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the places that had grain in them and sold to the Egyptians.
And the famine pressed hard in Egypt, 57 and all the earth were coming to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine pressed hard all over the earth.