These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when he was seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.

Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

Then the ugly and thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

But he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.

Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.

And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

and behold, seven cows, fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.

Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows.

I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them;

and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.

The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.

Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance.

Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundantly.

So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.

When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end,

and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all.

and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.