1 And two yeeres after, Pharaoh also dreamed, and beholde, he stoode by a riuer, 2 And loe, there came out of the riuer seuen goodly kine and fatfleshed, and they fedde in a medowe: 3 And loe, seuen other kine came vp after the out of the riuer, euill fauoured and leane fleshed, and stoode by the other kine vpon the brinke of the riuer. 4 And the euilfauoured and leane fleshed kine did eate vp the seuen welfauoured and fatte kine: so Pharaoh awoke. 5 Againe he slept, and dreamed the second time: and beholde, seuen eares of corne grewe vpon one stalke, ranke and goodly. 6 And loe, seuen thinne eares, and blasted with the east winde, sprang vp after them: 7 And the thinne eares deuoured the seuen ranke and full eares. then Pharaoh awaked, and loe, it was a dreame. 8 Nowe when the morning came, his spirit was troubled: therefore he sent and called all the soothsayers of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof, and Pharaoh tolde them his dreames: but none coulde interprete them to Pharaoh. 9 Then spake the chiefe butler vnto Pharaoh, saying, I call to minde my faultes this day. 10 Pharaoh being angrie with his seruantes, put me in ward in the chiefe stewards house, both me and the chiefe baker. 11 Then we dreamed a dreame in one night, both I, and he: we dreamed eche man according to the interpretation of his dreame. 12 And there was with vs a yong man, an Ebrew, seruant vnto the chiefe steward, whome when we told, he declared our dreames to vs, to euery one he declared according to his dreame. 13 And as he declared vnto vs, so it came to passe: for he restored me to mine office, and hanged him. 14 Then sent Pharaoh, and called Ioseph, and they brought him hastily out of prison, and he shaued him, and chaunged his rayment, and came to Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh sayde to Ioseph, I haue dreamed a dreame, and no man can interprete it, and I haue hearde say of thee, that when thou hearest a dreame, thou canst interprete it. 16 And Ioseph answered Pharaoh, saying, Without me God shall answere for the wealth of Pharaoh. 17 And Pharaoh sayde vnto Ioseph, In my dreame, beholde, I stoode by the banke of the riuer: 18 And lo, there came vp out of the riuer seuen fat fleshed, and welfauoured kine, and they fedde in the medowe. 19 Also loe, seuen other kine came vp after them, poore and very euilfauoured, and leanefleshed: I neuer sawe the like in all the lande of Egypt, for euilfauoured. 20 And the leane and euilfauoured kine did eate vp the first seuen fat kine. 21 And when they had eaten them vp, it could not be knowen that they had eaten them, but they were still as euilfauoured, as they were at the beginning: so did I awake. 22 Moreouer I sawe in my dreame, and beholde, seuen eares sprang out of one stalke, full and faire. 23 And lo, seuen eares, withered, thinne, and blasted with the East winde, sprang vp after them. 24 And the thinne eares deuoured the seuen good eares. Nowe I haue tolde the soothsayers, and none can declare it vnto me. 25 Then Ioseph answered Pharaoh, Both Pharaohs dreames are one. God hath shewed Pharaoh, what he is about to doe. 26 The seuen good kine are seuen yeres, and the seuen good eares are seuen yeeres: this is one dreame. 27 Likewise the seuen thinne and euilfauoured kine, that came out after them, are seuen yeeres: and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East winde, are seuen yeeres of famine. 28 This is the thing which I haue saide vnto Pharaoh, that God hath shewed vnto Pharaoh, what he is about to doe. 29 Beholde, there come seuen yeeres of great plentie in all the land of Egypt. 30 Againe, there shall arise after them seuen yeeres of famine, so that all the plentie shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land: 31 Neither shall the plentie bee knowen in the land, by reason of this famine that shall come after: for it shalbe exceeding great. 32 And therefore the dreame was doubled vnto Pharaoh the second time, because the thing is established by God, and God hasteth to performe it. 33 Nowe therefore let Pharaoh prouide for a man of vnderstanding and wisedome, and set him ouer the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh make and appoynt officers ouer the lande, and take vp the fift part of the land of Egypt in the seuen plenteous yeeres. 35 Also let them gather all the foode of these good yeeres that come, and lay vp corne vnder the hand of Pharaoh for foode, in the cities, and let them keepe it. 36 So the foode shall be for the prouision of the lande, against the seuen yeeres of famine, which shalbe in the lande of Egypt, that the land perish not by famine. 37 And the saying pleased Pharaoh and all his seruants. 38 Then saide Pharaoh vnto his seruants, Can we finde such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God? 39 The Pharaoh said to Ioseph, For as much as God hath shewed thee all this, there is no man of vnderstanding, or of wisedome like vnto thee. 40 Thou shalt be ouer mine house, and at thy word shall all my people be armed, onely in the kings throne will I be aboue thee. 41 Moreouer Pharaoh said to Ioseph, Behold, I haue set thee ouer all the land of Egypt. 42 And Pharaoh tooke off his ring from his hand, and put it vpon Iosephs hand, and arayed him in garments of fine linnen, and put a golden cheyne about his necke. 43 So he set him vpon the best charet that hee had, saue one: and they cryed before him, Abrech, and placed him ouer all the land of Egypt. 44 Againe Pharaoh saide vnto Ioseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift vp his hand or his foote in all the land of Egypt. 45 And Pharaoh called Iosephs name Zaphnath-paaneah: and he gaue him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah prince of On. then went Ioseph abrode in the land of Egypt. 46 And Ioseph was thirtie yeere old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt: and Ioseph departing from the presence of Pharaoh, went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seuen plenteous yeres the earth brought foorth store. 48 And hee gathered vp all the foode of the seuen plenteous yeeres, which were in the lande of Egypt, and layde vp foode in the cities: the foode of the fielde, that was round about euery citie, layde he vp in the same. 49 So Ioseph gathered wheate, like vnto the sand of the sea in multitude out of measure, vntill he left numbring: for it was without number. 50 Now vnto Ioseph were borne two sonnes (before the yeeres of famine came) which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah prince of On bare vnto him. 51 And Ioseph called the name of the first borne Manasseh: for God, said he, hath made me forget all my labour and al my fathers houshold. 52 Also hee called the name of the second, Ephraim: For God, sayde he hath made me fruitfull in the land of mine affliction. 53 So the seuen yeeres of the plentie that was in the land of Egypt were ended. 54 Then began the seuen yeeres of famine to come, according as Ioseph had saide: and the famine was in all landes, but in all the land of Egypt was bread. 55 At the length all the lande of Egypt was affamished, and the people cryed to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said vnto all the Egyptians, Goe to Ioseph: what he sayth to you, doe ye. 56 When the famine was vpon all the land, Ioseph opened all places, wherein the store was, and solde vnto the Egyptians: for the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. 57 And all countries came to Egypt to bye corne of Ioseph, because the famine was sore in all landes.
Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams
1 After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River, 2 when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass. 3 Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the riverbank, 4 and the thin cows ate up the fat cows. Then the king woke up. 5 He fell asleep again and had another dream. Seven heads of grain, full and ripe, were growing on one stalk. 6 Then seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, 7 and the thin heads of grain swallowed the full ones. The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming. 8 In the morning he was worried, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them his dreams, but no one could explain them to him.
9 Then the wine steward said to the king, “I must confess today that I have done wrong. 10 You were angry with the chief baker and me, and you put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 One night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us. 13 Things turned out just as he said: you restored me to my position, but you executed the baker.”
14 The king sent for Joseph, and he was immediately brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king's presence. 15 The king said to him, “I have had a dream, and no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams.”
16 Joseph answered, “I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favorable interpretation.”
17 The king said, “I dreamed that I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass. 19 Then seven other cows came up which were thin and bony. They were the poorest cows I have ever seen anywhere in Egypt. 20 The thin cows ate up the fat ones, 21 but no one would have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up. 22 I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain which were full and ripe, growing on one stalk. 23 Then seven heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, 24 and the thin heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told the dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain them to me.”
25 Joseph said to the king, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do. 26 The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven full heads of grain are also seven years; they have the same meaning. 27 The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine. 28 It is just as I told you—God has shown you what he is going to do. 29 There will be seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt. 30 After that, there will be seven years of famine, and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country. 31 The time of plenty will be entirely forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible. 32 The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.
33 “Now you should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country. 34 You must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops during the seven years of plenty. 35 Order them to collect all the food during the good years that are coming, and give them authority to store up grain in the cities and guard it. 36 The food will be a reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt. In this way the people will not starve.”
Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt
37 The king and his officials approved this plan, 38 and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God's spirit in him.” 39 The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else. 40 I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine. 41 I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.” 42 The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph's finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43 He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honor went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt. 44 The king said to him, “I am the king—and no one in all Egypt shall so much as lift a hand or a foot without your permission.” 45-46 He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.
Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve the king of Egypt. He left the king's court and traveled all over the land. 47 During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundant crops, 48 all of which Joseph collected and stored in the cities. In each city he stored the food from the fields around it. 49 There was so much grain that Joseph stopped measuring it—it was like the sand of the sea.
50 Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by Asenath. 51 He said, “God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father's family”; so he named his first son Manasseh. 52 He also said, “God has given me children in the land of my trouble”; so he named his second son Ephraim.
53 The seven years of plenty that the land of Egypt had enjoyed came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every other country, but there was food throughout Egypt. 55 When the Egyptians began to be hungry, they cried out to the king for food. So he ordered them to go to Joseph and do what he told them. 56 The famine grew worse and spread over the whole country, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. 57 People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.