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CHAPTER
41
Pharaoh’s Dreams
Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was
standing on the bank of the Nile River. 2In his
dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up
out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh
grass. 3 Then he saw seven more cows come up
behind them from the Nile, but these were
scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the
fat cows on the riverbank. 4Then the scrawny,
thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this
point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.
5 But he fell asleep again and had a second
dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain,
plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.
6Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but
these were shriveled and withered by the east
wind. 7And these thin heads swallowed up the
seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh
woke up again and realized it was a dream.
8The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams. So he called for all the
magicians and wise men of Egypt. When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them
could tell him what they meant.
9Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up.
“Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he
told Pharaoh. 10 “Some time ago, you were angry
with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard.
11 One night the chief baker and I each had a
dream, and each dream had its own meaning.
12 There was a young Hebrew man with us in
the prison who was a slave of the captain of the
guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us
what each of our dreams meant. 13And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was
restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the
chief baker was executed and impaled on a
pole.”
14Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was
quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved
and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I
had a dream last night, and no one here can tell
me what it means. But I have heard that when you
hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
16“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set
you at ease.”
17So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my
dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of
the Nile River, 18and I saw seven fat, healthy cows
come up out of the river and begin grazing in the
marsh grass. 19But then I saw seven sick-looking
... Genesis 41
cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve
never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the
land of Egypt. 20These thin, scrawny cows ate the
seven fat cows. 21But afterward you wouldn’t
have known it, for they were still as thin and
scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
22 “In my dream I also saw seven heads of
grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single
stalk. 23 Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and
withered by the east wind. 24And the shriveled
heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told
these dreams to the magicians, but no one could
tell me what they mean.”
25 Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s
dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. 26The
seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads
of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. 27 The seven thin, scrawny cows that came
up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of
famine.
28 “This will happen just as I have described it,
for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what
he is about to do. 29 The next seven years will be a
period of great prosperity throughout the land of
Egypt. 30But afterward there will be seven years
of famine so great that all the prosperity will be
forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land.
31 This famine will be so severe that even the
memory of the good years will be erased. 32As for
having two similar dreams, it means that these
events have been decreed by God, and he will
soon make them happen.
33 “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the
entire land of Egypt. 34Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them
collect one-fifth of all the crops during the
seven good years. 35Have them gather all the
food produced in the good years that are just
ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses.
Store it away, and guard it so there will be food
in the cities. 36That way there will be enough to
eat when the seven years of famine come to the
land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”
Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt
37Joseph’s suggestions were well received by
Pharaoh and his officials. 38So Pharaoh asked his
officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man
so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has
