GenesisChapter 41
Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.
1Two whole years went by. Then Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing beside the Nile River. 2Seven cows came up out of the river. They were fat and healthy. They began to eat the grass among the reeds. 3After them, seven other cows came up out of the Nile. They were sick and thin. They stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. 4Then the sick, thin cows ate up the seven healthy, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. Seven heads of grain grew on one stalk. They were full and ripe. 6After them, seven other heads of grain grew. They were thin and dried up by the east wind. 7Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven full, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh woke up. He knew it had been a dream. 8In 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 tell him what they meant. 9Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I remember my mistakes. 10One time Pharaoh was angry with his servants. He put me and the chief baker in prison. We were kept in the house of the captain of the guard. 11One night the chief baker and I both had dreams. Each dream had its own meaning. 12A young Hebrew man was there with us. He was a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams. He told each of us what our dream meant. 13And it happened just as he said. I got my job back, and the other man was hanged." 14So Pharaoh sent for Joseph. They quickly brought him out of the dungeon. Joseph shaved and changed his clothes. Then he went in to see Pharaoh. 15Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can tell me what it means. But I have heard that you can hear a dream and tell what it means." 16"I can't do it myself," Joseph answered. "But God will give Pharaoh a good answer." 17Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. 18Seven cows came up out of the river. They were fat and healthy. They began to eat the grass among the reeds. 19After them, seven other cows came up. They were sick, ugly, and thin. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt! 20Then the thin, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came first. 21But after they ate them, no one could tell they had eaten them. They looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. 22In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain. They were full and ripe. They were growing on one stalk. 23After them, seven other heads of grain grew. They were dried up and thin. The east wind had burned them. 24Then the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full ones. I told this to the magicians. But no one could explain it to me." 25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's two dreams mean the same thing. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26The seven good cows are seven years. The seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. 27The seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years. So are the seven empty heads of grain burned by the east wind. They are seven years of famine. 28It is just as I told Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29Look! Seven years of plenty are coming. There will be lots of food in all the land of Egypt. 30But seven years of famine will come after them. Then all the plenty in Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will ruin the land. 31No one will remember the good years in the land. The famine that comes after them will be that bad. 32Pharaoh had the dream two times in two ways. That means God has firmly decided this. And God will make it happen soon. 33So now Pharaoh should look for a man who is wise and understanding. He should put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34Pharaoh should act now. He should choose officials to be over the land. They should take one fifth of Egypt's crops during the seven good years. 35Let them gather all the extra food from these good years. Pharaoh will give them the power to do it. Let them bring the grain and store it in the cities. There it will be kept safe as food. 36This food will be saved for the land. It will be for the seven years of famine that will come on Egypt. Then the land will not perish in the famine." 37Pharaoh and all his officials liked this plan. 38So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man? The Spirit of God lives in him." 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "God has shown all this to you. So there is no one as wise and understanding as you. 40You will be in charge of my palace. All my people must obey your orders. Only my throne will make me greater than you." 41Pharaoh also told Joseph, "Now I put you in charge of all the land of Egypt." 42Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his finger. He put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in clothes of fine linen. He put a gold chain around his neck. 43He had Joseph ride in his second chariot. Men went ahead of him shouting, "Bow down!" So Pharaoh put him in charge of all the land of Egypt. 44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh. But no one in all Egypt will lift a hand or a foot unless you say so." 45Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah. He also gave him a wife named Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt. 46Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph left Pharaoh and traveled all over the land of Egypt. 47During the seven good years, the land grew huge crops. 48During those seven years, Joseph gathered all the extra food in Egypt. He stored it in the cities. In each city he stored the food grown in the fields around it. 49So Joseph stored up so much grain that it was like the sand of the sea. There was so much that he stopped counting it. It was too much to measure. 50Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons. Their mother was Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51Joseph named his first son Manasseh. He said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father's family."a 52He named his second son Ephraim. He said, "God has made me fruitful in the land where I suffered."b 53Then the seven good years in Egypt came to an end. 54And the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country. But in all the land of Egypt there was food. 55Then all the land of Egypt began to go hungry. The people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you." 56The famine spread over the whole land. So Joseph opened all the storehouses. He sold grain to the Egyptians, because the famine was very bad in Egypt. 57People from every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was very bad all over the earth.