Genesis 41

₁After 2 years Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream. He dreamed that he was standing next to the Nile River ₂and he saw 7 fat, healthy cows coming out of the river, eating grass among the reeds near the river. ₃Then 7 other cows came out of the river. They were ugly and thin and they went to stand near the fat cows next to the river. ₄Then the ugly and thin cows started to eat the 7 beautiful, fat cows and ate them up. Then Pharaoh woke up.

₅He went to sleep and he dreamed again. He dreamed that there was a wheat plant and 7 beautiful, full heads_of_wheat grew out of the wheat plant. ₆He dreamed that there were also 7 thin, dry heads_of_wheat that grew out of the wheat plant. They were dry and burnt from the hot eastern wind. ₇Then the 7 thin heads_of_wheat started eating the 7 fat and full heads_of_wheat and swallowed them.

Then Pharaoh woke up and he realised that he had had a dream. ₈The next morning Pharaoh was worried about his dreams. He called his magicians and his advisors, the people who had to tell him what was the right thing to do. Pharaoh told them about his dreams but there was no one who could tell him the meaning of his dreams.

₉Then the leader of the stewards said to Pharaoh: ‘I forgot something and I want to tell it to you today. ₁₀Some time ago you were angry with us and you put me and the leader of the bakers in prison in the house of the chief of the guards, who have to guard you. ₁₁We both dreamed one night. Each one had his own dream and each dream meant something different. ₁₂There was a young Hebrew man with us in prison. He was the slave of the chief of your guards. We told him what we had dreamt and he told us what our dreams meant. ₁₃It all happened as he told us: You gave me back my work and you told them to hang the baker.’

₁₄Then Pharaoh told his people to bring Joseph to him and they immediately brought him out of prison. He washed and shaved and put on new clothes and went to Pharaoh. ₁₅Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘I had a dream but no one can tell me what the dream means. They told me that you can tell what a dream means when they tell you about it.’

₁₆Joseph said to Pharaoh: ‘It is not I who can do it. It is God who will give you the right answer.’

₁₇Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘I dreamed that I was standing next to the Nile River. ₁₈There were 7 fat, beautiful cows that came out of the river and they started to eat among the reeds. ₁₉Then there were 7 other cows that came to them. They were very ugly and thin. I have never seen cows in Egypt that were as ugly as that. ₂₀The thin and ugly cows started eating the 7 fat cows. ₂₁They swallowed the fat cows, but you could not see that they had eaten the fat cows because they were still as thin as before. Then I woke up.

₂₂And I dreamed again, I dreamed there was a wheat plant and 7 heads_of_wheat grew out of the plant. The heads_of_wheat were beautiful and full. ₂₃Then 7 other heads_of_wheat grew out of the plant, but they were dry and thin. The hot eastern wind had blown and made them dry. ₂₄Then the 7 thin heads_of_wheat swallowed the 7 beautiful heads_of_wheat. I told this to the magicians but no one could tell me what my dreams mean.’

₂₅Joseph said to Pharaoh: ‘The 2 dreams that you had mean the same. God has told you what He wants to do. ₂₆The 7 beautiful cows are 7 good years and the 7 beautiful heads_of_wheat also mean 7 good years when there will be a lot of food. The 2 dreams mean the same. ₂₇The 7 thin and ugly cows that came after them mean 7 years, and the 7 thin heads_of_wheat are also 7 years. The hot eastern wind was blowing and it made the wheat dry. There will be a famine for 7 years. ₂₈This is what I have to tell you. God has shown you what He wants to do. ₂₉Now for 7 years there will be a lot of food in all of Egypt, more than enough. ₃₀And after that there will be 7 years of famine. The people will forget how much food there was. The people and the land will become poor. ₃₁People will no longer remember the lot of food that they had because the famine will be so bad. ₃₂The dream came to you twice because God has already decided that He will not wait long to do it.’

₃₃Joseph said: ‘This is what you must do: You must choose a wise man and make him ruler of the people of Egypt. ₃₄You must choose officials to rule over the people of Egypt. They must take one 5th of the wheat harvest in the 7 good years. ₃₅When they have collected all the food, they must keep the wheat in the store rooms of Pharaoh in the cities and guard it. ₃₆Then there will be food to eat in the 7 years when the wheat harvest will be small in Egypt, and then Egypt will have enough food when the 7 years of famine come.’

₃₇Pharaoh and all his officials listened to Joseph and they accepted his plan. ₃₈Pharaoh said to his officials: ‘There is no other man like this man. It is God who showed him these things.’

₃₉Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘God has taught you everything and no one is as wise as you. ₄₀You will be the ruler of the land. All my people will have to listen to you and do what you say. Only I will be more important than you, because I am Pharaoh. ₄₁I will make you the ruler over all of Egypt.’ ₄₂Pharaoh took off his ring with his seal and he put it on Joseph's finger. He gave Joseph linen clothes to wear and he put a gold chain around his neck. ₄₃He let Joseph ride in his 2nd best war-chariot and the people shouted: ‘You must bow before Joseph.’ So Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all of Egypt. ₄₄Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘I am Pharaoh, but everyone in Egypt must listen to you. No one may do anything if you don't say he may do it.’

₄₅Pharaoh gave Joseph a different name. He named him Zaphenath-Paneah and he gave Joseph a wife. Her name was Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of the town of On.

₄₆Joseph was 30 years old when he started to work for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After Pharaoh had talked to Joseph, Joseph went and looked at all the places in Egypt where he had to rule.

₄₇For 7 years there was a lot of food in Egypt. ₄₈Joseph told them to bring in all the wheat in the 7 years when there was a lot of food in Egypt. He stored all the wheat of each part of the land in the towns and cities near the fields where it grew. ₄₉Joseph stored the wheat in the store rooms. There was a lot of wheat. It was like the sand of the sea. Later he stopped weighing all the wheat because it was too much.

₅₀Joseph and his wife Asenath had 2 sons. They were born before the famine. Asenath was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ₅₁Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh. He said: ‘God helped me to forget about my family and to forget that I have suffered.’

₅₂Joseph named his 2nd son Ephraim. He said: ‘God made me fertile in the land where I have suffered a lot.’

₅₃The 7 good years were over. These were the years when there was a lot of food in Egypt. ₅₄Then the 7 bad years started, when there was little food. It all happened as Joseph had said. There was little food in all the other lands, but there was enough food in Egypt.

₅₅When the people of Egypt had no food and became hungry, they asked Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all the people of Egypt: ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’

₅₆When the famine was all over the land and the people had no food, Joseph opened the store rooms and he sold wheat to the Egyptians. ₅₇The people of other lands came to Egypt to buy wheat, because there was very little food in the whole world.