Genesis 41 – Verses from Genesis 41 from the book of Genesis in the Bible.

¹ At the end of two years, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River,

² When seven beautiful, fat cows came out of the river and began to graze among the reeds.

³ Then seven more cows, ugly and thin, came out of the river and went to the banks of the Nile with the others.

⁴ Then the ugly and thin cows ate the seven beautiful and fat cows. At this Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ He fell asleep again and had another dream: Seven ears of wheat, large and good, grew on the same tree.

⁶ Then seven other ears of corn sprouted, withered and withered by the east wind.

⁷ The thin ears swallowed the seven large and full ears. Then Pharaoh woke up; was a dream.

⁸ In the morning, disturbed, he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them the dreams, but no one was able to interpret them.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh: “Today I remember my faults.

¹⁰ Once Pharaoh was angry with his two servants and had me arrested, together with the chief baker, in the house of the captain of the guard.

¹¹ One night each of us had a dream, and each dream had an interpretation.

¹² Well, there was a young Hebrew man there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them, giving each of us an interpretation of our own dream.

¹³ And everything happened as he told us: I was restored to my position and the other was hanged.”

¹⁴ Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought from the dungeon. After shaving and changing his clothes, he presented himself to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph: “I had a dream that no one can interpret. But I heard that when you hear a dream, you are able to interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph replied, “That doesn’t depend on me, but God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh told Joseph about his dream: “I dreamed that I was standing on the bank of the Nile,

¹⁸ when seven cows, beautiful and fat, came out of the river and began to graze among the reeds.

¹⁹ Then seven others came out, rickety, very ugly and thin. I never saw such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt.

²⁰ The thin and ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that had appeared first.

²¹ Even after eating them, it didn't seem like they had done so, as they were still as thin as before. Then I woke up.

²² “Then I had another dream: I saw seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on the same tree.

²³ After them, seven others sprouted, withered and withered, parched by the east wind.

²⁴ The lean ears swallowed the seven good ears. I told the magicians this, but no one was able to explain it.”

²⁵ “Pharaoh had only one dream,” Joseph told him. “God revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are also seven years; it is a single dream.

²⁷ The seven lean and ugly cows that came after the others, and the seven withered ears of corn, scorched by the east wind, are seven years. There will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ “It's exactly like I told Pharaoh: God showed Pharaoh what he's going to do.

²⁹ Seven years of great abundance are about to come upon all the land of Egypt,

³⁰ but then seven years of famine will come. Then all the time of plenty will be forgotten, for famine will ruin the land.

³¹ The famine that will come later will be so severe that the time of plenty will no longer be remembered on earth.

³² The dream came to Pharaoh twice because the matter has already been decided by God, who is in a hurry to make it come true.

³³ “Now let Pharaoh find a wise and discerning man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.

³⁴ Pharaoh must also establish overseers to gather one-fifth of Egypt's harvest during the seven years of plenty.

³⁵ They must gather what they can in the good years to come and build up stocks of wheat that, under Pharaoh's control, will be stored in the cities.

³⁶ This stock will serve as a reserve for the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the land will not be devastated by famine. “

³⁷ The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and all his advisors.

³⁸ So Pharaoh asked them: “Will we find someone like this man, in whom is the divine spirit? “

³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed all these things to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

⁴⁰ You will be in charge of my palace, and all my people will be subject to your orders. Only in relation to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹ And Pharaoh continued: “I now hand over to you the command of the entire land of Egypt.”

⁴² Then Pharaoh took off his seal ring and placed it on Joseph's finger. He ordered him to wear fine linen and placed a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³ He also made him climb into his second royal carriage, and ahead of him the heralds shouted: “Make way! ” Thus Joseph was placed in charge of the entire land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will be able to lift his hand or foot in all Egypt.”

⁴⁵ Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Then Joseph went to inspect the entire land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He left Pharaoh's presence and went all over Egypt.

⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land had great production.

⁴⁸ Joseph collected all the surplus from the seven years of plenty in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he stored the wheat harvested from nearby fields.

⁴⁹ So Joseph stored a lot of wheat, like the sand of the sea. Such was the quantity that he stopped writing down, because it was beyond all measure.

⁵⁰ Before the years of famine, Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore Joseph two sons.

⁵¹ To the first, Joseph named Manasseh, saying: “God has made me forget all my suffering and all my father’s house.”

⁵² The second son he named Ephraim, saying: “God has made me prosper in the land where I have suffered.”

⁵³ Thus the seven years of plenty in Egypt came to an end,

⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began, as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all lands, but throughout Egypt there was food.

⁵⁵ When all of Egypt began to suffer from famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, and he replied to all the Egyptians: “Go to Joseph and do whatever he says.”

⁵⁶ When the famine had already spread throughout the land, Joseph ordered the storage places to be opened and began selling wheat to the Egyptians, as the famine was getting worse throughout Egypt.

⁵⁷ And people from all over the land came to Egypt to buy wheat from Joseph, because the famine was getting worse everywhere.