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Genesis 41-42
Easy-to-Read Version
Genesis 41-42
Easy-to-Read Version
Pharaoh’s Dreams
41 Two years later Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River. 2 In the dream, seven cows came out of the river and stood there eating grass. They were healthy, good-looking cows. 3 Then seven more cows came out of the river and stood on the bank of the river by the healthy cows. But these cows were thin and looked sick. 4 The seven sick cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 Pharaoh went back to sleep and began dreaming again. This time he dreamed that he saw seven heads of grain growing on one plant. They were healthy and full of grain. 6 Then he saw seven more heads of grain sprouting, but they were thin and scorched by the hot wind. 7 The thin heads of grain ate the seven good heads of grain. Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was only a dream. 8 The next morning Pharaoh was worried about these dreams, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told these men the dreams, but none of them could explain the dreams.
The Servant Tells Pharaoh About Joseph
9 Then the wine servant remembered Joseph and said to Pharaoh, “I remember something that happened to me. 10 You were angry with the baker and me, and you put us in prison. 11 Then one night he and I had a dream. Each dream had a different meaning. 12 There was a young Hebrew man in prison with us. He was a servant of the commander of the guards. We told him our dreams, and he explained them to us. He told us the meaning of each dream, 13 and what he said came true. He said I would be free and have my old job back, and it happened. He also said the baker would die, and it happened!”
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.”
37 This seemed like a very good idea to Pharaoh, and all his officials agreed. 38 Then Pharaoh told them, “I don’t think we can find anyone better than Joseph to take this job! God’s Spirit is in him, making him very wise!”
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “God showed these things to you, so you must be the wisest man. 40 I will put you in charge of my country, and the people will obey all your commands. I will be the only one more powerful than you.”
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I now make you governor over all of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh gave his special ring to Joseph. The royal seal was on this ring. Pharaoh also gave Joseph a fine linen robe and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 Then he told Joseph to ride in his second chariot. Pharaoh’s officials said, “Let him be the governor over the whole land of Egypt!”[a]
44 Then Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, the king over everyone in Egypt, but no one else in Egypt can lift a hand or move a foot unless you say he can.” 45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph another name, Zaphenath Paneah.[b] He also gave Joseph a wife named Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of On. So Joseph became the governor over the whole country of Egypt.
46 Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving the king of Egypt. He traveled throughout the country of Egypt. 47 During the seven good years, the crops in Egypt grew very well. 48 Joseph saved the food in Egypt during those seven years and stored the food in the cities. In every city he stored grain that grew in the fields around the city. 49 Joseph stored so much grain that it was like the sands of the sea. He stored so much grain that it could not be measured.
50 Joseph’s wife, Asenath, was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest in the city of On. Before the first year of hunger came, Joseph and Asenath had two sons. 51 Joseph named the first son Manasseh.[c] He was given this name because Joseph said, “God made me forget all my hard work and everything back home in my father’s house.” 52 Joseph named the second son Ephraim.[d] Joseph gave him this name because he said, “I had great troubles, but God has made me successful in everything.”
The Famine Begins
53 For seven years people had all the food they needed, but those years ended. 54 Then the seven years of hunger began, just as Joseph had said. No food grew anywhere in any of the countries in that area. But in Egypt people had plenty to eat because Joseph had stored the grain. 55 The famine began, and the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to the Egyptian people, “Go ask Joseph what to do.”
56 There was famine everywhere, so Joseph gave the people grain from the warehouses. He sold the stored grain to the people of Egypt. The famine was bad in Egypt, 57 but the famine was bad everywhere. So people from the countries around Egypt had to come to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain.
The Dreams Come True
42 During the famine in Canaan, Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt. So he said to his sons, “Why are you sitting here doing nothing? 2 I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go there and buy grain for us so that we will live and not die!”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. 4 Jacob did not send Benjamin. (Benjamin was Joseph’s only full brother.[e]) Jacob was afraid that something bad might happen to Benjamin.
5 The famine was very bad in Canaan, so there were many people from Canaan who went to Egypt to buy grain. Among them were the sons of Israel.
6 Joseph was the governor of Egypt at the time. He was the one who checked the sale of grain to people who came to Egypt to buy it. Joseph’s brothers came to him and bowed before him. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted like he didn’t know them. He was rude when he spoke to them. He said, “Where do you come from?”
The brothers answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not know who he was. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about his brothers.
Joseph said to his brothers, “You have not come to buy food! You are spies. You came to learn where we are weak.”
10 But the brothers said to him, “No, sir, we come as your servants. We have come only to buy food. 11 We are all brothers—we all have the same father. We are honest men. We have come only to buy food.”
12 Then Joseph said to them, “No, you have come to spy on us!”
13 And the brothers said, “No, sir, we come as servants from Canaan. We are all brothers, sons of the same father. There were twelve brothers in our family. Our youngest brother is still at home with our father, and the other brother died a long time ago.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “No! I can see that I am right. You are spies. 15 But I will let you prove that you are telling the truth. In the name of Pharaoh, I swear that I will not let you go until your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you must go back to get your youngest brother while the rest of you stay here in prison. Then we can prove whether you are telling the truth or not. If you are not telling the truth, then by Pharaoh, I swear that you are spies!” 17 Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
The Troubles Begin
18 After three days Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. Do this, and I will let you live. 19 If you are honest men, one of your brothers can stay here in prison, and the others can go and carry grain back to your people. 20 But then you must bring your youngest brother back here to me. Then I will know that you are telling the truth, and you will not have to die.”
The brothers agreed to this. 21 They said to each other, “We are being punished for the bad thing we did to our younger brother Joseph. We saw the trouble he was in. He begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. So now we are in trouble.”
22 Then Reuben said to them, “I told you not to do anything bad to that boy, but you refused to listen to me. Now we are being punished for his death.”
23-24 Joseph was using an interpreter to talk to his brothers, so the brothers did not know that he understood their language. He heard and understood everything they said, and that made him want to cry. So he turned away and left the room. When he came back, he took one of the brothers, Simeon, and tied him up while the others watched. 25 Joseph told the servants to fill the bags with grain. The brothers had given Joseph the money for the grain, but he didn’t keep the money. He put the money in their bags of grain. Then he gave them what they would need for their trip back home.
26 So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left. 27 That night the brothers stopped at a place to spend the night. One of the brothers opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey. And there in the sack, he saw his money! 28 He said to the other brothers, “Look! Here is the money I paid for the grain. Someone put the money back in my sack.” The brothers were very afraid. They said to one another, “What is God doing to us?”
The Brothers Report to Jacob
29 The brothers went back to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him about everything that had happened. 30 They said, “The governor of that country spoke rudely to us. He thought that we were spies! 31 We told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32 There are twelve of us brothers, all from the same father. But one of our brothers is no longer living, and the youngest is still at home with our father in Canaan.’
33 “Then the governor of that country said to us, ‘Here is a way to prove that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me. Take your grain back to your families. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know if you are honest men or if you were sent from an army to destroy us. If you are telling the truth, I will give your brother back to you. I will give him to you, and you will be free to buy grain in our country.’”
35 Then the brothers started taking the grain out of their sacks, and every brother found his bag of money in his sack of grain. When the brothers and their father saw the money, they were afraid.
36 Jacob said to them, “Do you want me to lose all of my children? Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away too!”
37 But Reuben said to his father, “Father, you may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust me. I will bring him back to you.”
38 But Jacob said, “I will not let Benjamin go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only son left from my wife Rachel. It would kill me if anything happened to him during the trip to Egypt. You would send me to the grave[f] a very sad, old man.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 41:43 Or “Then Pharaoh had Joseph ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they said, ‘Bow before Joseph.’ In this way Joseph became the governor over all of Egypt.”
- Genesis 41:45 Zaphenath Paneah This Egyptian name probably means “sustainer of life,” but it is like Hebrew words meaning “a person who explains secret things.”
- Genesis 41:51 Manasseh This is like the Hebrew word meaning “to forget.”
- Genesis 41:52 Ephraim This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “twice fruitful.”
- Genesis 42:4 full brother Literally, “brother.” Joseph and Benjamin had the same mother.
- Genesis 42:38 grave Or “Sheol,” the place of death.
Genesis 41-42
New International Version
Genesis 41-42
New International Version
Pharaoh’s Dreams
41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream:(A) He was standing by the Nile,(B) 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat,(C) and they grazed among the reeds.(D) 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.(E)
5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain,(F) healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind.(G) 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up;(H) it had been a dream.
8 In the morning his mind was troubled,(I) so he sent for all the magicians(J) and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.(K)
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.(L) 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants,(M) and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.(N) 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.(O) 12 Now a young Hebrew(P) was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.(Q) We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.(R) 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.(S)”
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.(T) When he had shaved(U) and changed his clothes,(V) he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.(W) But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”(X)
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”(Y)
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,(Z) 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.(AA) 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.(AB)”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same.(AC) God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.(AD) 26 The seven good cows(AE) are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.(AF)
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.(AG) 29 Seven years of great abundance(AH) are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine(AI) will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.(AJ) 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided(AK) by God, and God will do it soon.(AL)
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man(AM) and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.(AN) 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners(AO) over the land to take a fifth(AP) of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.(AQ) 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.(AR) 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt,(AS) so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.(AT) 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God[a]?”(AU)
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you,(AV) there is no one so discerning and wise as you.(AW) 40 You shall be in charge of my palace,(AX) and all my people are to submit to your orders.(AY) Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.(AZ)”
Joseph in Charge of Egypt
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”(BA) 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring(BB) from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes(BC) of fine linen(BD) and put a gold chain around his neck.(BE) 43 He had him ride in a chariot(BF) as his second-in-command,[b](BG) and people shouted before him, “Make way[c]!”(BH) Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.(BI)
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”(BJ) 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph(BK) the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest(BL) of On,[d](BM) to be his wife.(BN) And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old(BO) when he entered the service(BP) of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance(BQ) the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities.(BR) In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea;(BS) it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.(BT) 51 Joseph named his firstborn(BU) Manasseh[e](BV) and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim[f](BW) and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful(BX) in the land of my suffering.”
53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine(BY) began,(BZ) just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine,(CA) the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”(CB)
56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians,(CC) for the famine(CD) was severe throughout Egypt.(CE) 57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph,(CF) because the famine was severe everywhere.(CG)
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,(CH) he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us,(CI) so that we may live and not die.”(CJ)
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain(CK) from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin,(CL) Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.(CM) 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain,(CN) for there was famine in the land of Canaan(CO) also.(CP)
6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land,(CQ) the person who sold grain to all its people.(CR) So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.(CS) 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them.(CT) “Where do you come from?”(CU) he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.(CV) 9 Then he remembered his dreams(CW) about them and said to them, “You are spies!(CX) You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”(CY)
10 “No, my lord,(CZ)” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food.(DA) 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants(DB) are honest men,(DC) not spies.(DD)”
12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”(DE)
13 But they replied, “Your servants(DF) were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan.(DG) The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”(DH)
14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies!(DI) 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives,(DJ) you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.(DK) 16 Send one of your number to get your brother;(DL) the rest of you will be kept in prison,(DM) so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth.(DN) If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!(DO)” 17 And he put them all in custody(DP) for three days.
18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:(DQ) 19 If you are honest men,(DR) let one of your brothers stay here in prison,(DS) while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.(DT) 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me,(DU) so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.
21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother.(DV) We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress(DW) has come on us.”
22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?(DX) But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting(DY) for his blood.”(DZ) 23 They did not realize(EA) that Joseph could understand them,(EB) since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from them and began to weep,(EC) but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.(ED)
25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain,(EE) to put each man’s silver back in his sack,(EF) and to give them provisions(EG) for their journey.(EH) After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys(EI) and left.
27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey,(EJ) and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack.(EK) 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank(EL) and they turned to each other trembling(EM) and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”(EN)
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan,(EO) they told him all that had happened to them.(EP) They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us(EQ) and treated us as though we were spying on the land.(ER) 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.(ES) 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’(ET)
33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.(EU) 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men.(EV) Then I will give your brother back to you,(EW) and you can trade[g] in the land.(EX)’”
35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver!(EY) When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened.(EZ) 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more,(FA) and now you want to take Benjamin.(FB) Everything is against me!(FC)”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care,(FD) and I will bring him back.”(FE)
38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead(FF) and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him(FG) on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave(FH) in sorrow.(FI)”
Footnotes
- Genesis 41:38 Or of the gods
- Genesis 41:43 Or in the chariot of his second-in-command; or in his second chariot
- Genesis 41:43 Or Bow down
- Genesis 41:45 That is, Heliopolis; also in verse 50
- Genesis 41:51 Manasseh sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget.
- Genesis 41:52 Ephraim sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful.
- Genesis 42:34 Or move about freely
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