Genesis 41:18-32
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 41
18and behold, seven cows, fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. 19Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt; 20and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. 21Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke. 22I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; 23and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; 24and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.'
25And Joseph said to Pharaoh, 'Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
26The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.
27The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.
28It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;
30and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.
31So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.
32Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.
King James Version
Chapter 41
18And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: 19And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: 20And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: 21And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: 23And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: 24And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. 25And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. 27And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. 28This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. 29Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: 30And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; 31And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. 32And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 41
18when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and grazed among the reeds. 19After them, seven other cows--weak, very sickly, and thin--came up. I've never seen such sickly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. 20Then the thin, sickly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. 21When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. 22In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. 23After them, seven heads of grain--withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind--sprouted up. 24The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means."
25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing.
27The seven thin, sickly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine.
28"It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt.
30After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land.
31The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe.
32Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.
New Living Translation
Chapter 41
18and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. 19But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. 20These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. 21But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
22In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.
23Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind.
24And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.'
25Joseph responded, 'Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.
26The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity.
27The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.
28This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.
29The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt.
30But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land.
31This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased.
32As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
English Standard Version
Chapter 41
18Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.
27The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.
28It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,
30but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
31and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe.
32And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
New International Version
Chapter 41
18when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19After 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. 20The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21But 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.
22In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk.
23After them, seven other heads sprouted--withered and thin and scorched by the east wind.
24The 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.'
25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, 'The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream.
27The 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.
28It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
30but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.
31The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe.
32The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
New King James Version
Chapter 41
18Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 19Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. 21When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. 23Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:
26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one.
27And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.
28This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt;
30but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land.
31So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe.
32And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
