The Dreams of Pharaoh

1And it came to pass at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing by the River. 2And behold, out of the River came up seven cows, beautiful of appearance and fat of flesh, and they grazed among the reeds. 3And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the River, ugly of appearance and thin of flesh, and they stood beside the cows on the edge of the River. 4And the cows that were ugly of appearance and thin of flesh ate the seven cows beautiful of appearance and fat.

And Pharaoh awoke. 5And he slept and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, fat and good. 6And behold, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, were sprouting after them. 7And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven heads fat and full. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

8And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, and there was no one interpreting them to Pharaoh.

9And the chief of the cupbearers spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “My sin I am remembering this day; 10Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guards—me and the chief of the bakers. 11And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; each man according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed. 12And there was with us a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the guards. And we told to him, and he interpreted for us our dreams; each man according to his dream he interpreted. 13And it came to pass as he interpreted to us—so it came to pass. Me he restored to my office, and him he hanged.”

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

14And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they hurried him from the pit. And he shaved and changed his clothing, and he came to Pharaoh.

15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one interpreting it. And I have heard it said of you that you hear a dream to interpret it.”

16And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will answer Pharaoh with peace.”

17And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the edge of the River, 18and behold, out of the River came up seven cows fat of flesh and beautiful of appearance, and they grazed among the reeds. 19And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly of appearance and thin of flesh. Never have I seen such as these in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. 20And the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. 21And they went into their bellies, and no one would have known that they had gone into their bellies, and they were as ugly as at the beginning. And I awoke.

22And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good, 23and behold, seven heads of grain withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, were sprouting after them. 24And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads of grain.

And I told this to the magicians, and there was no one who interpreted it for me.”

25And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do He has declared to Pharaoh. 26The seven good cows—they are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain—they are seven years. The dream is one. 27And the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them—they are seven years; and the seven empty the heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

28This is the word that I have spoken to Pharaoh. What God is about to do He has shown Pharaoh. 29Behold, seven years are coming—great abundance in all the land of Egypt, 30and seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the land. 31And the abundance will not be known in the land because of that famine after thus; for it is very severe.

32And as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice—it is because the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it.

33And now, let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land and let him take a fifth of the land† of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the hand of Pharaoh—food in the cities—and guard it 36and the food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine that shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not be cut off by the famine.”

Joseph Given Charge of Egypt

37And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man such as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?†”

39And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made known to you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40You shall be over my house, and according to your mouth all my people will kiss. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42And Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on the hand of Joseph, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the chain of gold around his neck. 43And he had him ride in the second chariot that was his, and they called out before him, “Abrek!”† And he set him over all the land of Egypt.

44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and apart from you, no man may lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.”

45And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah;† and he gave to him Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On,† for a wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

The Seven Years of Plenty

46And Joseph was a son of thirty years when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and he passed through all the land of Egypt.

47And the land made as handfuls in the seven years of abundance. 48And he gathered all the food of the seven years that were in the land of Egypt, and he placed the food in the cities. The food of the fields of the city that surrounded them, he placed in its midst. 49And Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until that he stopped counting, for it was without number.

50And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh,† “For God has made me forget all my toil and all the house of my father.” 52And the name of the second he called Ephraim:† “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

The Famine Begins

53And the seven years of abundance, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. 54And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all the lands, and in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55And all the land of Egypt hungered. And the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all Egypt, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you⁺, do.”

56And the famine was over all the face of the land, and Joseph opened all that was in them and sold to the Egyptians, and the famine was strong in the land of Egypt. 57And all the earth came to Egypt to buy, to Joseph, because the famine was strong in all the earth.