Thematic Bible: Joseph interprets pharaoh's dreams


Thematic Bible



Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and no one is able to give me the sense of it; now it has come to my ears that you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before you. Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh. read more.
Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile: And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass; Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt; And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first; And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep. And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem: And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them: And the seven thin heads made a meal of the seven good heads; and I put this dream before the wise men, but not one of them was able to give me the sense of it. Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense. The seven thin and poor-looking cows who came up after them are seven years; and the seven heads of grain, dry and wasted by the east wind, are seven years when there will be no food. As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do. Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt; And after that will come seven years when there will not be enough food; and the memory of the good years will go from men's minds; and the land will be made waste by the bad years; And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter. And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain