Genesis 41 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. He dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River.

² In the dream, seven cows come 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 sick looking.

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 And 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 interpret the dreams.

⁹ Then the wine servant remembered Joseph. The servant said to Pharaoh, “I remember something that happened to me.

¹⁰ You were angry with me and the baker, 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 that happened. He also said the baker would die, and that happened!”

¹⁴ So Pharaoh called Joseph from the prison. The guards quickly got Joseph out of prison. Joseph shaved and put on some clean clothes. Then he went to see Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream. But no one can interpret the dream for me. I heard that you can interpret dreams when someone tells you about them.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I can’t! But maybe God will explain them for you, Pharaoh.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I was standing by the Nile River.

¹⁸ Then 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 out of the river after them. But these cows were thin and sick looking. They were the worst cows I had ever seen anywhere in Egypt!

²⁰ Then 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.

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “These two dreams are about the same thing. God is telling you what will happen soon.

²⁶ Both dreams really mean the same thing. 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. And God will make these things happen just like 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. People in Egypt will forget how much food there had been in the past. This famine [237] will ruin the country.

³¹ People will forget what it was like to have plenty of food.

³² “Pharaoh, you had two dreams about the same thing. Why? 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 lots of food during the seven good years and store it in the cities until it is needed. In this way, 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 person more powerful than you.”

⁴¹ {There was a special ceremony and parade when Pharaoh made Joseph the governor.} 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 Pharaoh told Joseph to ride in the second chariot {in the parade}. Special guards walked ahead of Joseph’s chariot and told the people, “Bow down to Joseph.”

⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, the king, {so I will do what I want to do}. But no other person in Egypt can lift a hand or move a foot unless you say he can.”

⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph another name, Zaphenath Paneah. [238] Pharaoh 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. Joseph traveled throughout the country of Egypt.

⁴⁷ During the seven good years, the crops in Egypt grew very well.

⁴⁸ And Joseph saved the food in Egypt during those seven years. Joseph stored the food in the cities. In every city, Joseph stored grain that grew in the fields around the city.

⁴⁹ Joseph stored very much grain. It was like the sands of the sea. He stored so much grain that it could not be measured.

⁵⁰ Joseph’s wife was Asenath. She 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 The first son was named Manasseh. [239] Joseph named him this because Joseph said, “God made me forget all of the troubles I have had, and everything about my home.”

⁵² Joseph named the second son Ephraim. [240] Joseph gave him this name because Joseph said, “I had great troubles, but God has made me successful in everything.”

⁵³ For seven years, people had all the food they needed. But then those years ended.

⁵⁴ And the seven years of hunger began, just like Joseph had said. No food grew anywhere in any of the countries in that area. But in Egypt, people had plenty to eat! Why? Because Joseph had stored the grain.

⁵⁵ The time of hunger 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 [241] everywhere, so Joseph gave the people grain from the warehouses. Joseph 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 Egypt to buy grain.