'Seven' in the Bible

But the Lord said to him, "All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much." Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!"

You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,

and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth.

For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made."

And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.

He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.

He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.

Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves.

Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?"

He replied, "You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well."

Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, he said, "I'll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel."

So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.

Complete my older daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for seven more years of work."

Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for seven more years.

So he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for seven days. He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

But Jacob himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds.

Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river.

The bad-looking, thin cows ate the seven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, healthy and good.

Then seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them.

The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream.

Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds.

Then seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows as these in all the land of Egypt!

The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven fat cows.

I also saw in my dream seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good.

Then seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them.

The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning."

The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning.

The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent seven years of famine.

Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt.

But seven years of famine will occur after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate the land.

Pharaoh should do this -- he should appoint officials throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine."

During the seven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests.

Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.

The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end.

Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food.

These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.