Genesis 41–50

Pharaoh Has Two Dreams

41When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream. In his dream, he was standing by the Nile River. ²Seven cows came up out of the river. They looked healthy and fat. They were eating some of the tall grass that was growing along the river.

³After them, seven other cows came up out of the Nile. They looked ugly and skinny. They were standing beside the other cows on the riverbank.

⁴The ugly, skinny cows ate up the seven cows that looked healthy and fat. Then Pharaoh woke up.

⁵He fell asleep again and had a second dream. In that dream, seven heads of grain were growing on one stem. They were healthy and good.

⁶After them, seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and dried up by the east wind.

⁷The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up. It had been a dream.

⁸In the morning he was worried. So he sent for all of the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams. But no one could tell him what they meant.

⁹Then the chief wine taster spoke up. He said to Pharaoh, “Now I remember that I’ve done something wrong. ¹⁰Pharaoh was once angry with his servants. He put me and the chief baker in prison. We were in the house of the captain of the palace guard. ¹¹Each of us had a dream the same night. Each dream had its own meaning.

¹²“A young Hebrew servant was there with us. He was a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams. And he explained them to us. He told each of us the meaning of our dreams. ¹³Things turned out exactly as he said they would. I was given back my position. The other man had a pole stuck through his body.”

¹⁴So Pharaoh sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of the prison. Joseph shaved himself and changed his clothes. Then he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream. No one can tell me what it means. But I’ve heard that when you hear a dream you can explain it.”

¹⁶“I can’t do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh. “But God will give Pharaoh the answer he wants.”

¹⁷Then Pharaoh told Joseph what he had dreamed. He said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ¹⁸Seven cows came up out of the river. They were fat and good-looking. They were eating the tall grass that was growing along the river.

¹⁹“After them, seven other cows came up. They were bony and very ugly and thin. I had never seen such ugly cows in the whole land of Egypt.

²⁰“The thin, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. ²¹But even after the thin cows ate up the fat ones, no one could tell that they had eaten them. They looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

²²“In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain. They were full and good. They were all growing on one stem.

²³“After them, seven other heads of grain came up. They were weak and thin and dried up by the east wind.

²⁴“The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told my dreams to the magicians. But none of them could explain them to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams have the same meaning. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years. And the seven good heads of grain are seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing.

²⁷“The seven thin, ugly cows that came up later are seven years. So are the seven worthless heads of grain that were dried up by the east wind. They are seven years when there won’t be enough food.

²⁸“It’s exactly as I said to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he’s about to do. ²⁹Seven years with plenty of food are coming to the whole land of Egypt.

³⁰“But seven years when there won’t be enough food will follow them. Then everyone will forget about all of the food Egypt had. Terrible hunger will destroy the land. ³¹There won’t be anything left to remind people of the years when there was plenty of food in the land. That’s how bad the hunger that follows will be.

³²“God gave the dream to Pharaoh in two forms. That’s because the matter has been firmly decided by God. And it’s because God will do it soon.

³³“So Pharaoh should look for a wise and understanding man. He should put him in charge of the land of Egypt.

³⁴“Pharaoh should appoint officials to be in charge of the land. They should take a fifth of the harvest in Egypt during the seven years when there’s plenty of food. ³⁵They should collect all of the extra food of the good years that are coming. Pharaoh should give them authority to store up the grain. They should keep it in the cities for food.

³⁶“The grain should be stored up for the country to use later. It will be needed during the seven years when there isn’t enough food in Egypt. Then the country won’t be destroyed just because it doesn’t have enough food.”

³⁷The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and all of his officials. ³⁸So Pharaoh said to them, “The spirit of God is in this man. We can’t find anyone else like him, can we?”

³⁹Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “God has made all of this known to you. No one is as wise and understanding as you are. ⁴⁰You will be in charge of my palace. All of my people must obey your orders. I will be greater than you only because I’m the one who sits on the throne.”

Joseph Is Put in Charge of Egypt

⁴¹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’m putting you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴²Then Pharaoh took his ring off his finger. It was the ring he used to stamp all of the official papers. He put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes that were made out of fine linen. He put a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³He also had him ride in a chariot. Joseph was now next in command after Pharaoh. People went in front of him and shouted, “Get down on your knees!”

By doing all of those things, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

⁴⁴Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. But without your word, no one will do anything in the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him a wife. She was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.

Joseph traveled all over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He left Pharaoh’s palace and traveled all over Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years when there was plenty of food, the land produced more than the people needed.

⁴⁸Joseph collected all of the extra food produced in those seven years in Egypt. He stored it in the cities. In each city he stored up the food that was grown in the fields around it. ⁴⁹Joseph stored up huge amounts of grain. It was like the sand of the sea. There was so much grain it couldn’t be measured. So Joseph stopped keeping records of it.

⁵⁰Before the years when there wasn’t enough food, two sons were born to Joseph. He had them by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.

⁵¹Joseph named his first son Manasseh. That’s because he said, “God has made me forget all of my trouble and my father’s whole family.”

⁵²He named the second son Ephraim. That’s because he said, “God has given me children in the land where I’ve suffered so much.”

⁵³The seven years when there was plenty of food in Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴Then the seven years when there wasn’t enough food began. It happened exactly as Joseph had said it would. There wasn’t enough food in any of the other lands. But in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

⁵⁵When all of the people of Egypt began to get hungry, they cried out to Pharaoh for food. He told all of the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”

⁵⁶There wasn’t enough food anywhere in the country. So Joseph opened the storerooms. He sold grain to the Egyptians because people were very hungry all over Egypt.

⁵⁷People from all of the other countries came to Egypt. They came to buy grain from Joseph. That’s because people were very hungry all over the world.

Joseph’s Brothers Go Down to Egypt

42Jacob found out that there was grain in Egypt. So he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” ²He continued, “I’ve heard there’s grain in Egypt. Go down there. Buy some for us. Then we’ll live and not die.”

³So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain there. ⁴But Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with them. He was afraid Benjamin might be harmed.

⁵Israel’s sons were among the people who went to buy grain. There wasn’t enough food in the land of Canaan.

⁶Joseph was the governor of the land. He was the one who sold grain to all of its people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

⁷As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he pretended to be a stranger. He spoke to them in a mean way. “Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We’ve come to buy food.”

⁸Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. ⁹Then Joseph remembered his dreams about them. So he said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the places where our land isn’t guarded very well.”

¹⁰“No, sir,” they answered. “We’ve come to buy food. ¹¹All of us are the sons of one man. We’re honest men. We aren’t spies.”

¹²“No!” he said to them. “You have come to see the places where our land isn’t guarded very well.”

¹³But they replied, “We were 12 brothers. All of us were the sons of one man. He lives in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is now with our father. And one brother is gone.”

¹⁴Joseph said to them, “I still say you are spies! ¹⁵So I’m going to put you to the test. You can be sure that Pharaoh lives. And you can be just as sure that you won’t leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. I promise with an oath that you won’t leave here. ¹⁶Send one of you back to get your brother. The rest of you will be kept in prison.

“I’ll put your words to the test. Then we’ll find out whether you are telling the truth. You can be sure that Pharaoh lives. And you can be just as sure that if you aren’t telling the truth, we’ll know that you are spies!”

¹⁷So…