Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song of David for going up to the Temple.

Joseph Is Called to Explain the Dreams

¹⁴ So Pharaoh called Joseph from the prison. The guards quickly got Joseph out of prison. Joseph shaved, put on some clean clothes, and went to see Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can explain it for me. I heard that you can explain dreams when someone tells you about them.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I cannot! But God can explain the dream for you, Pharaoh.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing by the Nile River. ¹⁸ Seven cows came up out of the river and stood there eating the grass. They were healthy, good-looking cows. ¹⁹ Then I saw seven more cows come up out of the river after them, but these cows were thin and looked sick. They were the worst cows I had ever seen anywhere in Egypt! ²⁰ The thin, sick cows ate the first healthy cows, ²¹ but they still looked thin and sick. You couldn’t even tell they had eaten the healthy cows. They looked as thin and sick as they did in the beginning. Then I woke up.

²² “In my next dream I saw seven heads of grain growing on one plant. They were healthy and full of grain. ²³ And then seven more heads of grain grew after them, but they were thin and scorched by the hot wind. ²⁴ Then the thin heads of grain ate the seven good heads of grain.

“I told these dreams to my magicians. But no one could explain the dreams to me. What do they mean?”

Joseph Explains the Dream

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of these dreams have the same meaning. God is telling you what will happen soon. ²⁶ The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven good years. ²⁷ And the seven thin, sick-looking cows and the seven thin heads of grain mean that there will be seven years of hunger in this area. These seven bad years will come after the seven good years. ²⁸ God has shown you what will happen soon. He will make these things happen just as I told you. ²⁹ For seven years there will be plenty of food in Egypt. ³⁰ But then there will be seven years of hunger. The people will forget how much food there had been in Egypt before. This famine will ruin the country. ³¹ It will be so bad that people will forget what it was like to have plenty of food.

³² “Pharaoh, you had two dreams about the same thing. That means God wanted to show you that he really will make this happen, and he will make it happen soon! ³³ So, Pharaoh, you should choose a wise, intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt. ³⁴ Then you should choose other men to collect food from the people. During the seven good years, the people must give them one-fifth of all the food they grow. ³⁵ In this way these men will collect all the food during the seven good years and store it in the cities until it is needed. Pharaoh, this food will be under your control. ³⁶ Then during the seven years of hunger, there will be food for the country of Egypt. And Egypt will not be destroyed by the famine.”

The Angels With the Last Plagues

15 Then I saw another wonder in heaven. It was great and amazing. There were seven angels bringing seven plagues. These are the last plagues, because after these, God’s anger is finished.

² I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. All those who had won the victory over the beast and his idol and over the number of its name were standing by the sea. These people had harps that God had given them. ³ They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: