41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 4 by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 5 41:19 Then 6 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 7 as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven 8 fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, 9 no one would have known 10 that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream 11 seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then 12 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this 13 to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” 14
41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. 15 God has revealed 16 to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 17 41:26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. 18 41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent 19 seven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told 20 Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur 21 after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate 22 the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered 23 because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. 24 41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh 25 because the matter has been decreed 26 by God, and God will make it happen soon. 27
41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 28 for a wise and discerning man 29 and give him authority 30 over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do 31 this – he should appoint 32 officials 33 throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt 34 during the seven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food 35 during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority 36 they should store up grain so the cities will have food, 37 and they should preserve it. 38 41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” 39
41:37 This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials. 40 41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, 41 one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” 42 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning 43 as you are! 41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. 44 Only I, the king, will be greater than you. 45
41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place 46 you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 47 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen 48 clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 41:43 Pharaoh 49 had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, 50 and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” 51 So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission 52 no one 53 will move his hand or his foot 54 in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. 55 He also gave him Asenath 56 daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, 57 to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of 58 all the land of Egypt.
41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old 59 when he began serving 60 Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by 61 Pharaoh and was in charge of 62 all the land of Egypt. 41:47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests. 63 41:48 Joseph 64 collected all the excess food 65 in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. 66 In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it. 41:49 Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, 67 until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.
41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. 68 Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. 69 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, 70 saying, 71 “Certainly 72 God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” 41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, 73 saying, 74 “Certainly 75 God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
41:53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, 76 just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, 77 “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, 78 Joseph opened the storehouses 79 and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. 41:57 People from every country 80 came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.