Genesis Chapter 41 Bible in Basic English

Genesis 41:1

Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile;

Genesis 41:2

And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.

Genesis 41:3

And after them seven other cows came out of the Nile, poor-looking and thin; and they were by the side of the other cows.

Genesis 41:4

And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.

Genesis 41:5

But he went to sleep again and had a second dream, in which he saw seven heads of grain, full and good, all on one stem.

Genesis 41:6

And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.

Genesis 41:7

And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.

Genesis 41:8

And in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and all the holy men, and put his dream before them, but no one was able to give him the sense of it.

Genesis 41:9

Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now;

Genesis 41:10

Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker;

Genesis 41:11

And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.

Genesis 41:12

And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant, and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of them.

Genesis 41:13

And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.

Genesis 41:14

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.

Genesis 41:15

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.

Genesis 41:16

Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.

Genesis 41:17

Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:

Genesis 41:18

And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;

Genesis 41:19

Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt;

Genesis 41:20

And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first;

Genesis 41:21

And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.

Genesis 41:22

And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem:

Genesis 41:23

And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:

Genesis 41:24

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.

Genesis 41:25

Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:26

The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense.

Genesis 41:27

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.

Genesis 41:28

As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:29

Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt;

Genesis 41:30

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;

Genesis 41:31

And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.

Genesis 41:32

And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.

Genesis 41:33

And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:34

Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land in the good years.

Genesis 41:35

And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.

Genesis 41:36

And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.

Genesis 41:37

And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

Genesis 41:38

Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?

Genesis 41:39

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good sense as you:

Genesis 41:40

You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you.

Genesis 41:41

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:42

Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck;

Genesis 41:43

And he made him take his seat in the second of his carriages; and they went before him crying, Make way! So he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:44

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:45

And Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, the priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph went through all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:46

Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:47

Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.

Genesis 41:48

And Joseph got together all the food of those seven years, and made a store of food in the towns: the produce of the fields round every town was stored up in the town.

Genesis 41:49

So he got together a store of grain like the sand of the sea; so great a store that after a time he gave up measuring it, for it might not be measured.

Genesis 41:50

And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.

Genesis 41:51

And to the first he gave the name Manasseh, for he said, God has taken away from me all memory of my hard life and of my father's house.

Genesis 41:52

And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.

Genesis 41:53

And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.

Genesis 41:54

Then came the first of the seven years of need as Joseph had said: and in every other land they were short of food; but in the land of Egypt there was bread.

Genesis 41:55

And when all the land of Egypt was in need of food, the people came crying to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to the people, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do it.

Genesis 41:56

And everywhere on the earth they were short of food; then Joseph, opening all his store-houses, gave the people of Egypt grain for money; so great was the need of food in the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:57

And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.