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.”

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