Genesis 41:17-42

Contemporary English Version

¹⁷ The king told Joseph:

I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ¹⁸ I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river, and they began feeding on the grass. ¹⁹ Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ The skinny cows ate the fat ones. ²¹ But you couldn't tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. At once, I woke up.

²² I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk. The heads were full and ripe. ²³ Then seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. ²⁴ These heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told my dreams to the magicians, but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams.

²⁵ Joseph replied:

Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain. ²⁷ The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the desert wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain.

²⁸ It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do. ²⁹ For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain, ³⁰ but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving. ³¹ The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty. ³² God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon.

³³ Your Majesty, you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do, so that you can put him in charge of all Egypt. ³⁴ Then appoint some other officials to collect one fifth of every crop harvested in Egypt during the seven years when there is plenty. ³⁵ Give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities. ³⁶ It can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in Egypt. This will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food.

Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt

³⁷ The king^[a] and his officials liked this plan. ³⁸ So the king said to them, “Who could possibly handle this better than Joseph? After all, the Spirit of God is with him.”

³⁹ The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. ^40 (A) I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. ⁴¹ You are now governor of all Egypt!”

^42 (B) Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck.