Genesis 41
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 41
Messenger of Salvation.[a] 1 Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream in which he was alongside the Nile. 2 Seven cows came out of the Nile, beautiful and fat, and they began to graze in the reed grass. 3 Then seven other cows came up out of the Nile after them. They were ugly and thin, and they stopped alongside the first cows on the shore of the Nile. 4 The ugly and thin cows devoured the seven beautiful and fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 He fell back asleep and had a second dream. There were seven heads of grain on one stalk, fat and healthy. 6 But seven empty heads, shriveled by the east wind, sprouted up after them. 7 The seven empty heads swallowed the seven fat and healthy heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
8 In the morning, he was very troubled and he summoned all the magicians and wise men in Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dream, but no one knew how to interpret it for him.
9 The cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, “Today I remember that I have done something wrong. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants and had sent me and the chief baker into prison in the care of the captain of the guard. 11 We both had dreams the same night, but each of us had his own dream with its own meaning. 12 There was a young Hebrew there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them, giving each of us an explanation for his dream. 13 Just what he predicted came true: I was restored to my office, and the other man was impaled.”
14 Pharaoh therefore summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothes and was brought to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream and no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said that you can hear a dream and immediately interpret it.”
16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “Not I, but God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was on the Nile riverbank. 18 Seven fat and beautiful cows came out of the Nile and they began to graze on the reed grass. 19 Then seven other cows came out after them. They were poor and sickly and thin, I had never seen any as ugly in all of Egypt. 20 The thin and ugly cows devoured the seven fat cows.[b] 21 Even after they had eaten them, you still could not see that they had eaten anything. They were still as ugly as they had been before. Then I woke up.
22 “I then had a dream in which seven heads of grain sprouted on a single stalk. They were fat and good. 23 But seven dry heads, empty and shriveled by the east wind, sprouted after them. 24 The empty heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are actually one dream. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven beautiful cows are seven years, and the seven beautiful heads of grain are seven years. It is a single dream. 27 The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years and the seven empty heads, withered by the east wind, are seven years. There will be seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I have told Pharaoh. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will soon be seven years of great abundance in the land of Egypt. 30 Then the seven years after these will be seven years of famine. The years of abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and famine will ravage the land. 31 It will be forgotten that there was abundance in the land, for the famine that will follow will be very severe. 32 As for the fact that the dream was repeated twice, this means that God has decided the matter and God is hastening to fulfill it.
33 “Pharaoh should seek and find an intelligent and wise man and place him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Pharaoh should also appoint overseers in the land to collect a fifth of the produce of the land during the years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food in these good years that are about to take place. They will gather the grain under the authority of Pharaoh and place it in granaries in the cities. 36 This food will serve as a reserve in the land for the seven years of famine that will come upon the land of Egypt. Thus, the land will not be devastated during the famine.”
37 Joseph Is Made Viceroy of Egypt.[c] Pharaoh and all his ministers were pleased with this. 38 Pharaoh said to his ministers, “Could we find another man like this, in whom one finds the Spirit of God?”
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed all this to you, there is surely no one as intelligent or as wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my house. You shall have authority over all my people. Only the throne shall outrank you.”
41 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have made you ruler of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 [d]Pharaoh took the ring off his finger and placed it on the finger of Joseph. He dressed him in clothes made of the finest linen and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in the chariot of his vizier, and before him they cried, “Make way!” He made him ruler of the entire land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one can raise a hand or a foot in the entire land of Egypt.” 45 And Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-peneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest of On,[e] as his wife. Joseph went throughout the entire land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he was brought before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph left the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land was very fertile. 48 He collected all the food of these seven years when there was abundance in the land of Egypt. He placed the food in the cities, that is, in every city he deposited the food of the surrounding countryside. 49 Joseph gathered as much grain as the sand of the sea, enormous quantities. There was so much that it could no longer be measured, for it was beyond measure.
50 The Great Famine.[f] Joseph had two sons in the years that preceded the famine. They were born to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. 51 Joseph called the firstborn Manasseh for, he said, “God has made me forget all my difficulties and my father’s entire family.” 52 He named the second son Ephraim for, he said, “God has made me prosper in the land of my affliction.”
53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt ended, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine over the whole earth, but there was food in Egypt.
55 Then the whole land of Egypt began to feel the hunger, and the people cried out to Pharaoh to have food. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.”
56 The famine spread throughout the entire land. So Joseph opened up the storehouses in which he had placed the grain, and he sold it to the Egyptians. The famine kept getting worse in Egypt. 57 People came to Egypt from every country to buy grain from Joseph, for the famine was severe over the whole earth.
Footnotes
- Genesis 41:1 Joseph here represents the divine wisdom (Wis 10:14), which is far more effective than the efforts of the soothsayers; God alone knows the meaning of events because he alone is master of them.
- Genesis 41:20 For the Egyptians the cow was a symbol of Hator. goddess of fertility, protector of the Nile, and goddess of the “Great Wave,” that is, the ocean. Seven cows symbolized Osiris, inventor of agriculture and of the seven-year cycle (the people had linked the alternate flooding of the Nile and drought with the seven-year cycle). It was believed that during a famine, animals and human beings devoured one another, in a meeting of death with hunger.
- Genesis 41:37 God’s Providence has turned the situation in Joseph’s favor. Invested as prime minister in the most pure Egyptian tradition, Joseph now presides over the destiny of the country to which he was sold as a slave.
- Genesis 41:42 The ring, fine linen robes, and gold neck-chain are the insignia of authority; they may also be seen on monuments. “Make way!”: Hebrew, Abrech, which may also mean “Kneel down!” and be a command to show supreme honor. Zaphenath-peneah: the meaning of the name is obscure; perhaps it means “God says: He is alive” or “He who explains hidden things.”
- Genesis 41:45 On: i.e., Heliopolis.
- Genesis 41:50 Joseph’s foresight and adroit administration avert a disaster in Egypt and turn the country into the granary of the Near East.
Genesis 41
King James Version
41 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
4 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.
7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
8 And 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 the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker:
11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.
13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
