Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 At the end of two years Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,^{(A) 2} when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. ³ After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. ⁵ He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and good, came up on one stalk. ⁶ After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, full ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream.

⁸ When morning came, he was troubled,^(B) so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.^(C) Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guards. ¹¹ He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. ¹² Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. ¹³ It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”^(D)

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.^[a](E) He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.^(F)

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”^(G)

¹⁶ “I am not able to,”^(H) Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^[b](I)

¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and grazed among the reeds. ¹⁹ After them, seven other cows—weak, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such sickly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ Then the thin, sickly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. ²¹ When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. ²² In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. ²³ After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”^(J)

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.^{(K) 26} The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin, sickly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine.^(L)

²⁸ “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. ³⁰ After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land.^{(M) 31} The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. ³² Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.

³³ “So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”

Joseph Exalted

³⁷ The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, ³⁸ and he said to them, “Can we find anyone like this, a man who has God’s spirit^[c] in him?” ^{(N) 39} So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your commands.^[d](O) Only I, as king,^[e] will be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I am placing you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, clothed him with fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck.^{(P) 43} He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, and servants called out before him, “Make way!” ^[f] So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh and no one will be able to raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt without your permission.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On.^[g] And Joseph went throughout^[h] the land of Egypt.

Joseph’s Administration

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance the land produced outstanding harvests. ⁴⁸ Joseph gathered all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and put it in the cities. He put the food in every city from the fields around it. ⁴⁹ So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it because it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰ Two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine arrived.^(Q) Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On, bore them to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh^[i] and said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and my whole family.” ⁵² And the second son he named Ephraim^[j] and said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ Then the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. ⁵⁵ When the whole land of Egypt was stricken with famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ Now the famine had spread across the whole region, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Every land came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.^(R)

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus^(A) left the Jordan,^(B) full of the Holy Spirit,^(C) and was led by the Spirit^(D) in the wilderness ² for forty days^(E) to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”^[a][b](F)

⁵ So he took him up^[c] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world^(G) in a moment of time. ⁶ The devil said to him, “I will give you their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me,^(H) and I can give it to anyone I want. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me,^[d] all will be yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered him,^[e] “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve^[f] him only.”^(I)

⁹ So he took him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”^[i](L)

¹³ After the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Ministry in Galilee

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,^(M) and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.^{(N) 15} He was teaching in their synagogues,^(O) being praised^[j] by everyone.

Rejection at Nazareth

¹⁶ He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.^(P) As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day^(Q) and stood up to read.^{(R) 17} The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

²⁰ He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.^(T) And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”^(U)

²² They were all speaking well of him^[n] and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” ^(V)

²³ Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb^[o] to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum,^(W) do here in your hometown also.’”

²⁴ He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(X) 25} But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,^(Y) when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.^{(Z) 27} And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy,^[p] and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^(AA)

²⁸ When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of town,^(AB) and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.^(AC)

Driving Out an Unclean Spirit

³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum,^(AD) a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. ³² They were astonished at his teaching because his message had authority.^{(AE) 33} In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,^{(AF) 34} “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ^(AG)

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him^(AH) and said, “Be silent and come out of him!”^(AI) And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

³⁶ Amazement came over them all, and they were saying to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” ³⁷ And news about him began to go out to every place in the vicinity.

Healings at Capernaum

³⁸ After he left the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.^(AJ) Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.^{(AK) 39} So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately^(AL) and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to him. As he laid his hands on each one of them, he healed them.^{(AM) 41} Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” ^(AN) But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.^(AO)

⁴² When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place.^(AP) But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.^[q](AQ)

Psalm 93

God’s Eternal Reign