Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the ¹Nile. 2 And lo, there came up out of the Nile seven healthy cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the ^areed grass in a marshy pasture. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, ugly and gaunt and raw-boned, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 Then the ugly and gaunt and raw-boned cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. 5 Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. 6 Then behold, seven ears of grain, thin and dried up by the east wind, sprouted after them. 7 Then the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. 8 So when morning came ^ahis spirit was troubled and disturbed and he sent and called for all the ^bmagicians and all the ^cwise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but ^dno one could interpret them to him.

9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would mention ^amy faults today. 10 Two years ago Pharaoh was ^aangry with his servants, and ^bhe put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker. 11 ^aWe dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the significance of the interpretation of his own dream. 12 Now there was with us in the prison a young man, a Hebrew, ^aservant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and ^bhe interpreted our dreams for us, to each man according to the significance of his own dream. 13 And just ^aas he interpreted the dreams for us, so it happened; I was restored to my office as chief cupbearer, and the baker was hanged.”

14 Then Pharaoh sent and ^acalled for Joseph, and they ^bhurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when Joseph shaved himself and changed his clothes making himself presentable, he came to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and ^athere is no one who can interpret it; and ^bI have heard it said about you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “^aIt is not in me to interpret the dream; ^bGod not I will give Pharaoh a ¹favorable answer through me.” 17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; 18 and seven fat, sleek and handsome cows came up out of the river, and they grazed in the reed grass of a marshy pasture. 19 Lo, seven other cows came up after them, very ugly and gaunt just skin and bones; such emaciated animals as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. 21 Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had eaten them, because they were still as thin and emaciated as before. Then I awoke but again I fell asleep and dreamed. 22 I saw in my second dream, seven ears of grain, plump and good, growing on a single stalk; 23 and lo, seven other ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them; 24 and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now ^aI told this to the magicians and soothsayers, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The two dreams are one and the same and have one interpretation; ^aGod has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the two dreams are one and the same. 27 The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and also the seven thin ears, dried up and scorched by the east wind, ^athey are seven years of famine and hunger. 28 This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: ^aGod has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 Listen very carefully: ^aseven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but afterward ^aseven years of famine and hunger will come, and there will be such desperate need that all the great abundance of the previous years will be forgotten in the land of Egypt as if it never happened, and famine and destitution will ravage and destroy the land. 31 So the great abundance will become forgotten in the land because of that subsequent famine, for it will be very severe. 32 That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh and in two different ways indicates that ^athis matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly. 33 So now let Pharaoh prepare ahead and look for a man ^adiscerning and clear-headed and wise, and set him in charge over the land of Egypt as governor under Pharaoh. 34 Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers and officials over the land, and set aside one-fifth of the produce of the entire land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35 Let them ^agather as a tax all of the fifth of the food of these good years that are coming, and store up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them guard the food in fortified granaries in the cities. 36 That food shall be put in storage as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine and hunger which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land (people) will not be ravaged during the famine.”

37 Now the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants.

38 So Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this a man equal to Joseph, ^ain whom is the divine spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since your God has shown you all this, there is no one as ^adiscerning and clear-headed and wise as you are. 40 ^aYou shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall ¹be governed according to your word and pay respect to you with reverence, submission, and obedience; only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you in Egypt.” 41 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you in charge ^aover all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh ^atook off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and dressed him in official vestments of fine linen and ^bput a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and runners proclaimed before him, “ Attention, bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^awithout your permission shall no man raise his hand to do anything or set his foot to go anywhere in all the land of Egypt all classes of people shall submit to your authority.” 45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph ¹Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^aOn (Heliopolis in Egypt) , as his wife. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt to inspect and govern it.

46 Now Joseph had been in Egypt thirteen years and was ^athirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph departed from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt performing his duties. 47 In the seven abundant years the earth produced handfuls for each seed planted. 48 And Joseph gathered all the surplus food of the seven good years in the land of Egypt and stored enormous quantities of the food in the cities. He stored away in every city the food collected from its own surrounding fields. 49 Thus Joseph gathered and stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting it, for it could not be measured.

50 Now ^atwo sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (causing to forget) , for he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and hardship and all the sorrow of the loss of my father’s household.” 52 He named the second son Ephraim (fruitfulness) , for “^aGod has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering.”

53 When the seven years of plenty came to an end in the land of Egypt, 54 ^athe seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all the surrounding lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread (food) . 55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; do ^awhatever he says to you.” 56 When the famine was spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold surplus grain to the Egyptians; and the famine grew extremely severe in the land of Egypt. 57 And the people of all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because ^athe famine was severe over all the known earth.