Genesis:41

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* Two years later Pharaoh had a dream . He dreamed he was standing by the Nile River . * Suddenly , seven nice-looking well-fed cows came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds . * Seven other cows came up from the river behind them . These cows were sickly and skinny . They stood behind the first seven cows on the riverbank . * The cows that were sickly and skinny ate the seven nice-looking well-fed cows . Then Pharaoh woke up . * He fell asleep again and had another dream . Seven heads of grain , full and ripe , were growing on one stalk . * Then seven other heads of grain sprouted thin and scorched by the desert wind . * The thin heads of grain swallowed the full ones . The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming . * The king was upset the next morning . So he called his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed . None of them could tell him what the dreams meant . * The king ’s chief cupbearer said : »Now I remember what I was supposed to do . * »When you were angry with your chief cook and me , you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard . * »One night we both had dreams . Each dream had a different meaning . * »A young Hebrew , who was a servant of the captain of the guard , was there with us at the time . When we told him our dreams , he explained what each of them meant . * »Everything happened just as he said it would . I got my job back , and the cook was put to death .« * So the king sent for Joseph . He was quickly brought out of jail . He shaved , changed his clothes , and went to the king . * The king said : »I had a dream . No one can explain what it means . I am told that you can interpret dreams .« * Joseph then answered Pharaoh : »I cannot do it myself , but God can give the meaning of your dreams .« * The king told Joseph : »I dreamed as I stood on the bank of the Nile River , * »I saw seven fat , healthy cows come up out of the river . They began feeding on the grass . * »Next , seven skinny , bony cows came up out of the river . I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt . * »The skinny cows ate the fat ones ! * »Even though they had eaten the fat cows , no one could tell they had eaten them . They looked just as sick as before . Then I woke up . * »In my second dream I saw seven good , full heads of grain growing on a single stalk . * »Seven other heads of grain , withered , thin , and scorched by the east wind , sprouted behind them . * »The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads . I told this to the magicians , but no one could tell me what it meant .« * Joseph said to Pharaoh : »Pharaoh had the same dream twice . God has told Pharaoh what he is going to do . * »The seven good cows are seven years . The seven good heads of grain are seven years . It is all the same dream . * »The seven thin , sickly cows that came up behind them are seven years . The seven empty heads of grain scorched by the east wind are also seven years . Seven years of famine are coming ! * »It is just as I said to Pharaoh . God has shown Pharaoh what he is going to do . * »Seven years are coming when there will be plenty of food in Egypt . * »Seven years of famine will follow . Then people will forget that there was plenty of food in Egypt . The famine will ruin the land . * »People will not remember that there was once plenty of food in the land , because the coming famine will be so severe . * »The reason Pharaoh has had a recurring dream is because the matter has been definitely decided by God . He will do it very soon . * »Pharaoh should look for a wise and intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt . * »Make arrangements to appoint supervisors over the land . Take a fifth of Egypt ’s harvest during the seven good years . * »Have them collect all the food during these good years . Store up grain under Pharaoh ’s control , to be kept for food in the cities . * »This food will be a reserve supply for our country during the seven years of famine that will happen in Egypt . Then the land will not be ruined by the famine .« * The king and his officials approved this plan , * and he said to them : »We will never find a better man than Joseph . He is a man who has God ’s Spirit in him .« * The king said to Joseph : »God has shown you all this . Therefore it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else . * »I will put you in charge of my country . All my people will obey your orders . Your authority will be second only to mine . * »I now appoint you governor over all Egypt .« * Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph ’s hand . He clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck . * He had him ride in his second chariot . They proclaimed before him : »Bow the knee !« Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt . * Moreover , Pharaoh said to Joseph : »Though I am Pharaoh , yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt .« * Pharaoh named Joseph , Zaphenath-paneah . He gave him Asenath , the daughter of Potiphera , priest of On , as his wife . And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt . * Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh , king of Egypt . Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt . * During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundantly . * He gathered all the food of these seven years that occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities . He placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields . * Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance , like the sand of the sea . He finally stopped measuring it , for it was beyond measure . * Before the year of famine came , there were born to Joseph two sons , whom Asenath , the daughter of Potiphera , priest of On , bore to him . * Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh , because God helped him forget all his troubles and all about his father ’s family . * He named the second son Ephraim , because God made him fruitful in the land where he had suffered . * The seven years when there was plenty of food in Egypt came to an end . * The seven years of famine began , just as Joseph had said . There was famine in every other country , but there was food throughout Egypt . * When the Egyptians became hungry , they cried out to the king for food . So he ordered them to go to Joseph and do what he told them . * The famine grew worse and spread over the entire country . Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians . * People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph , because the famine was severe everywhere .

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