Genesis 41:14–36

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and ^acalled for Joseph, and they ^brushed him out of the pit; and he shaved himself and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^abut no one can interpret it; yet ^bI have heard ¹it said about you, that ²you hear a dream and that you can interpret it.”

¹⁶Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “^1aIt is not in me; ^bGod will ²answer concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.”

¹⁷So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;

¹⁸and behold, seven cows, ¹fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds.

¹⁹“And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and lean, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt, in regard to ¹ugliness;

²⁰and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

²¹“But they ¹devoured them, and yet it could not be known that they had ²devoured them. ³For they were just as ugly as ⁴before. Then I awoke.

²²“Then I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

²³and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;

²⁴and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So ^aI told it to the ¹magicians, but there was no one who could declare it to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ¹dreams are one and the same; ^aGod has declared to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶“The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ¹dreams are one and the same.

²⁷“And the seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven lean ears scorched by the east wind ^awill be seven years of famine.

²⁸“¹It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^aGod has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹“Behold, ^aseven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

³⁰and after them ^aseven years of famine will arise, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ¹ravage the land,

³¹so that the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very heavy.

³²“Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^athe matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

³³“So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^aunderstanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴“Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.

³⁵“Then let them ^agather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it.

³⁶“And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.”