¹And it came to pass after two years' time that Pharaoh had a dream, and there he was, standing at the river. ²And what he saw was seven cows coming up out of the river, of fine appearance and with healthy flesh, and they grazed on the reeds. ³And he then saw seven other cows coming up out of the river after them, of bad appearance and lean in flesh, and they stood alongside the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴Then the cows of bad appearance and lean in flesh ate the seven cows which were of fine appearance and healthy. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵Then he fell asleep and dreamt a second time, and what he saw was seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk, healthy and good. ⁶Then what he saw was seven lean ears of corn which were blighted by the east wind, growing up after them. ⁷And the lean ears of corn swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears of corn. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized that it was a dream. ⁸And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was disturbed, and he sent for and called all the sacred scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh related his dreams to them, but there was no interpreter of them to Pharaoh. ⁹Then the head butler spoke with Pharaoh and said, “I do call to remembrance my sins today. ¹⁰Pharaoh became angry with his servants, and he put me under guard in the house of the head executioner – me and the head baker. ¹¹And we had a dream one night, I and he. Each of us dreamt according to the interpretation of his dream. ¹²And there was with us there a Hebrew youth, a servant of the head executioner, and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us. He gave the interpretation of each one's dream. ¹³And it came to pass, after he had interpreted for us, that so it came about. Pharaoh restored me to my office, but he hanged the head baker.” ¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent for and called for Joseph, and he whisked him out of the pit. Then he shaved himself and changed his clothes, and he went to Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream and there is no interpreter of it, and I have heard about you, that you know how to interpret a dream.” ¹⁶Then Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, “It is outside my competence. God will answer Pharaoh with peace.” ¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was standing on the bank of the river, ¹⁸and what I saw was seven cows coming up out of the river, with healthy flesh and of fine appearance, and they grazed on the reeds. ¹⁹Then what I saw was seven other cows coming up after them, weak and of very bad appearance and lean in flesh – I have never seen anything like them in the whole land of Egypt for badness. ²⁰Then the lean and bad cows ate the seven former and healthy cows. ²¹And they went inside them, but it could not be perceived that they had gone inside them, and their appearance was as bad as it was at first. Then I awoke. ²²And I saw in my dream that there were seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk, full and good. ²³Then what I saw was seven hard and lean ears of corn which were blighted by the east wind growing up after them. ²⁴And the lean ears of corn ate the seven good ears of corn. And I told it to the sacred scribes, but there was no-one who could explain it to me.” ²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh's dream is a unity. God has told Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears of corn are seven years. The dream is a unity. ²⁷The seven lean and bad cows coming up after them are seven years, and the seven lean ears of corn which were blighted by the east wind will be seven years of famine. ²⁸This is the account which I have spoken to Pharaoh. What God is about to do, he has shown Pharaoh. ²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰Then seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will waste away the land. ³¹And the abundance will not be felt in the land on account of that famine afterwards, for it will be very severe. ³²And as for the dream being repeated to Pharaoh, with him dreaming twice, that is because the matter is fixed with God, and God is making haste to carry it out. ³³So now let Pharaoh discern a wise and prudent man and appoint him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh do this and appoint overseers over the land, and take a fifth of the yield of the land in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming and store corn under Pharaoh's administration – food in the cities – and guard it. ³⁶And the food will be a stockpile for the land, for the seven years of famine which will take place in the land of Egypt, so that the land is not cut down in the famine.” ³⁷And the procedure was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can anyone else like this be found – a man in whom the spirit of God is?” ³⁹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Consequent to God making all this known to you, there cannot be a prudent and wise man like you. ⁴⁰You will be over my house, and at your behest the whole of my people will be regulated. Only in the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have appointed you over the whole land of Egypt.” ⁴²Then Pharaoh took his ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen, and he put a golden chain round his neck. ⁴³And he had him ride in his second chariot, and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee.” And he appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁴And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no man in the whole land of Egypt will lift his hand or his foot.” ⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Joseph Zaphenath-Paneah, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Poti-Phera the priest of On as a wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and passed through the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And the land yielded produce by handfuls in the seven years of abundance. ⁴⁸And he gathered all the food of the seven years which elapsed in the land of Egypt, and he put food in the cities. He put the food of the city fields, which were around it, inside the city itself. ⁴⁹And Joseph stored corn like the sand of the sea, a very large amount, until he stopped counting, for there was no counting it. ⁵⁰And before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, sons whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-Phera the priest of On bore to him. ⁵¹And Joseph called the first one Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has caused me to forget all my sorrow and the whole household of my father.” ⁵²And he called the second one Ephraim, “For”, he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” ⁵³Then the seven years of abundance which came to pass in the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴And the seven years of famine started to come, as Joseph had said, and there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And when all the land of Egypt was hungry, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to the whole of Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” ⁵⁶And the famine came over the whole face of the land, and Joseph opened up everything in it, and he sold it to Egypt. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And the whole continent came to Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, for the famine was severe in the whole continent.