1 And it comes to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and behold, he is standing by the River, 2 and behold, from the River coming up are seven cows, of beautiful appearance, and fat [in] flesh, and they feed among the reeds; 3 and behold, seven other cows are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean [in] flesh, and they stand near the cows on the edge of the River, 4 and the cows of bad appearance and lean [in] flesh eat up the seven cows of beautiful appearance, and fat—and Pharaoh awakens. 5 And he sleeps, and dreams a second time, and behold, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat and good, 6 and behold, seven ears, thin, and blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; 7 and the thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears—and Pharaoh awakens, and behold, a dream. 8 And it comes to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sends and calls all the enchanters of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounts to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh. 9 And the chief of the butlers speaks with Pharaoh, saying, “I mention my sin this day: 10 Pharaoh has been angry against his servants, and puts me in confinement in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers; 11 and we dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed. 12 And there [is] with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interprets to us our dreams, [to] each according to his dream has he interpreted, 13 and it comes to pass, as he has interpreted to us so it has been, me he put back on my station, and him he hanged.” 14 And Pharaoh sends and calls Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaves, and changes his garments, and comes to Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it, and I have heard concerning you, saying, You understand a dream to interpret it,” 16 and Joseph answers Pharaoh, saying, “Without me—God answers Pharaoh with peace.” 17 And Pharaoh speaks to Joseph: “In my dream, behold, I am standing by the edge of the River, 18 and behold, out of the River coming up are seven cows, fat [in] flesh, and of beautiful form, and they feed among the reeds; 19 and behold, seven other cows are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean [in] flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness. 20 And the lean and the bad cows eat up the first seven fat cows, 21 and they come in to their midst, and it has not been known that they have come in to their midst, and their appearance [is] bad as at the commencement; and I awake. 22 And I see in my dream, and behold, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, full and good; 23 and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; 24 and the thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell [it] to the enchanters, and there is none declaring [it] to me.” 25 And Joseph says to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he has declared to Pharaoh; 26 the seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dream is one; 27 and the seven thin and bad cows which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are seven years of famine; 28 this [is] the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is doing. 29 Behold, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt, 30 and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine has finished the land, 31 and the plenty is not known in the land because of that famine afterward, for it [is] very grievous. 32 And because of the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hurrying to do it. 33 And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; 34 let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty, 35 and they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up grain under the hand of Pharaoh—food in the cities; and they have kept [it], 36 and the food has been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off by the famine.” 37 And the thing is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants, 38 and Pharaoh says to his servants, “Do we find like this, a man in whom the Spirit of God [is]?” 39 And Pharaoh says to Joseph, “After God’s causing you to know all this, there is none intelligent and wise as you; 40 you are over my house, and at your mouth do all my people kiss; only in the throne I am greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh says to Joseph, “See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 And Pharaoh turns aside his seal-ring from off his hand, and puts it on the hand of Joseph, and clothes him [with] garments of fine linen, and places a chain of gold on his neck, 43 and causes him to ride in the second chariot which he has, and they proclaim before him, “Bow the knee!” And [he] set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I [am] Pharaoh, and without you a man does not lift up his hand and his foot in all the land of Egypt”; 45 and Pharaoh calls Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he gives to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goes out over the land of Egypt. 46 And Joseph [is] a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph goes out from the presence of Pharaoh, and passes over through all the land of Egypt; 47 and the land makes in the seven years of plenty by handfuls. 48 And he gathers all the food of the seven years which have been in the land of Egypt, and puts food in the cities; the food of the field which [is] around [each] city has he put in its midst; 49 and Joseph gathers grain as sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until he has ceased to number, for there is no number. 50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine comes, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, has borne to him, 51 and Joseph calls the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me to forget all my labor, and all the house of my father”; 52 and the name of the second he has called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 53 And the seven years of plenty are completed which have been in the land of Egypt, 54 and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt has been bread; 55 and all the land of Egypt is famished, and the people cry to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh says to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; that which he says to you—do.” 56 And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph opens all [places] which have [grain] in them, and sells to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt, 57 and all the earth has come to Egypt, to buy, to Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the earth.
Genesis · Literal Standard Version
Genesis 41 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Asenath
The Egyptian wife given to Joseph, mother of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 41:45-52; Genesis 46:20
Ephraim
Joseph's younger son, given the greater blessing by Jacob.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 41:52; 48
Joseph
Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50
Manasseh
Joseph's elder son, whose descendants formed a tribe on both sides of the Jordan.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 41:51; 48
Cross references (53)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 20:3; Genesis 29:14; Ezekiel 29:3; Esther 6:1; Isaiah 19:5
- 2 Isaiah 19:6
- 3 Genesis 41:20–21; Genesis 41:4
- 4 1 Kings 3:15
- 5 Deuteronomy 32:14
- 6 Hosea 13:15; Ezekiel 19:12; Ezekiel 17:10
- 7 Genesis 20:3; Genesis 37:5
- 8 Daniel 4:7; Exodus 7:22; Matthew 2:1; Exodus 7:11; Isaiah 29:14
- 9 Genesis 40:14; Genesis 40:23; Genesis 40:1–3
- 10 Genesis 39:20; Genesis 40:2–3; Genesis 37:36
- 11 Genesis 40:5–8
- 12 Genesis 37:36; Genesis 40:12–19; Genesis 39:20; Genesis 39:1
- 13 Ezekiel 43:3; Jeremiah 1:10; Genesis 40:12; Genesis 40:20–22
- 14 Daniel 2:25; Psalm 113:7–8; Psalm 105:19–22; 1 Samuel 2:7–8; Isaiah 61:3
- 15 Daniel 5:16; Daniel 5:12; Psalm 25:14; Genesis 41:9–13
- 16 2 Corinthians 3:5; Genesis 40:8; Daniel 2:47; Acts 3:12; Numbers 12:6
- 18 Jeremiah 24:1–3; Jeremiah 24:5; Jeremiah 24:8
- 21 Revelation 10:9–10; Ezekiel 3:3; Isaiah 9:20; Psalm 37:19
- 23 2 Kings 19:26; Psalm 129:6–7; Hosea 9:16; Hosea 13:15; Genesis 41:6
- 24 Daniel 4:7; Genesis 41:8; Exodus 8:19
- 25 Daniel 2:45; Revelation 4:1; Daniel 2:28–29; Matthew 24:40; Daniel 2:47
- 26 Genesis 41:2; Genesis 41:47; Exodus 12:11; Genesis 41:5; Genesis 41:29
- 27 2 Kings 8:1; 2 Samuel 24:19
- 28 Genesis 41:25; Genesis 41:16
- 29 Genesis 41:46–47; Genesis 41:26; Genesis 41:49
- 30 Genesis 47:13; Genesis 41:54; James 5:17; Psalm 105:16; 1 Kings 17:1
- 31 Isaiah 24:20; 1 Samuel 5:6
- 32 Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 46:10–11; Isaiah 14:24–27; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 24:35
- 33 Genesis 41:39; Acts 6:3; Daniel 4:27; Deuteronomy 1:13; Exodus 18:19–22
- 34 Proverbs 6:6–8; Numbers 31:14; Job 5:20; Nehemiah 11:9; Proverbs 22:3
- 35 Genesis 41:48–49; Genesis 45:6–7; Genesis 41:56; Exodus 4:13
- 36 Genesis 47:13–25
- 37 Acts 7:10; Proverbs 25:11; Psalm 105:19; 1 Kings 21:2; Joshua 22:30
- 38 Job 32:8; Daniel 5:14; Numbers 27:18; Daniel 5:11; Daniel 4:18
- 39 Genesis 41:28; Genesis 41:33; Genesis 41:25; Genesis 41:16
- 40 Proverbs 22:29; Acts 7:10; Psalm 105:21–22; Daniel 5:29; Genesis 45:8–9
- 41 Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:9–11; Genesis 42:6; Daniel 6:3; Daniel 4:2–3
- 42 Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:29; Esther 3:10; Esther 8:2; Daniel 5:16
- 43 Genesis 45:8; Acts 7:10; Genesis 45:26; Genesis 42:33; Philippians 2:10
- 44 Psalm 105:22; Exodus 11:7
- 45 Genesis 46:20; Ezekiel 30:17; Exodus 2:16; Acts 11:28; Luke 2:1
- 46 Daniel 1:19; 1 Kings 12:6; 2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Samuel 16:21; Genesis 37:2
- 47 Genesis 26:12; Psalm 72:16
- 48 Genesis 41:34–36; Genesis 47:21
- 49 Psalm 78:27; 1 Samuel 13:5; Genesis 22:17; Judges 7:12; Judges 6:5
- 50 Genesis 48:5; Genesis 46:20; Genesis 41:45; 2 Samuel 8:18
- 51 Psalm 30:5; Proverbs 31:7; Psalm 30:11; Genesis 41:30; Deuteronomy 33:17
- 52 Genesis 49:22; Genesis 50:23; Genesis 17:6; Isaiah 40:1–2; Psalm 105:17–18
- 53 Psalm 73:20; Luke 16:25; Genesis 41:29–31
- 54 Acts 7:11; Psalm 105:16; Genesis 45:11; Genesis 41:30; Genesis 41:6–7
- 55 Matthew 17:5; Jeremiah 14:1–6; Matthew 3:17; Philippians 4:19; Genesis 41:40–41
- 56 Genesis 42:6; Acts 17:26; Genesis 47:14–24; Isaiah 23:17; Zechariah 5:3
- 57 Genesis 41:56; Genesis 41:54; Genesis 42:1; Genesis 42:5; Deuteronomy 9:28
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
He also came down upon all righteous men and Prophets; Enos, I mean, and Enoch, and Noah, and the rest; upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for as regards Joseph, even Pharaoh perceived that he had the Spirit of God within him.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)