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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Genesis 41 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/41.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/genesis/41-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Genesis 41</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/40.htm" title="Genesis 40">◄</a> Genesis 41 <a href="../genesis/42.htm" title="Genesis 42">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams</h3><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_1"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.1" class="v0_41_1">1</span>Two years later the king<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> of Egypt dreamed he was standing beside the Nile River. </span><span class="v0_41_2"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.2" class="v0_41_2">2</span>Suddenly, seven fat, healthy cows came up from the river and started eating grass along the bank. </span><span class="v0_41_3"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.3" class="v0_41_3">3</span>Then seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river and </span><span class="v0_41_4"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.4" class="v0_41_4">4</span>ate the fat, healthy cows. When this happened, the king woke up.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_5"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.5" class="v0_41_5">5</span>The king went back to sleep and had another dream. This time seven full heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. </span><span class="v0_41_6"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.6" class="v0_41_6">6</span>Later, seven other heads of grain appeared, but they were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. </span><span class="v0_41_7"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.7" class="v0_41_7">7</span>The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full heads. Again the king woke up, and it had only been a dream.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_8"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.8" class="v0_41_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The next morning the king was upset. So he called in his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed. None of them could tell him what the dreams meant.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_9"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.9" class="v0_41_9">9</span>The king's personal servant said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_9">Now I remember what I was supposed to do. </span><span class="v0_41_10"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.10" class="v0_41_10">10</span>When you were angry with me and your chief cook, you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard. </span><span class="v0_41_11"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.11" class="v0_41_11">11</span>One night we both had dreams, and each dream had a different meaning. </span><span class="v0_41_12"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.12" class="v0_41_12">12</span>A young Hebrew, who was a servant of the captain of the guard, was there with us at the time. When we told him our dreams, he explained what each of them meant, </span><span class="v0_41_13"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.13" class="v0_41_13">13</span>and everything happened just as he said it would. I got my job back, and the cook was put to death.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_14"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.14" class="v0_41_14">14</span>The king sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_15"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.15" class="v0_41_15">15</span>The king said to him, “I had a dream, yet no one can explain what it means. I am told that you can interpret dreams.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_16"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.16" class="v0_41_16">16</span>“Your Majesty,” Joseph answered, “I can't do it myself, but God can give a good meaning to your dreams.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_17"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.17" class="v0_41_17">17</span>The king told Joseph:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_17">I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. </span><span class="v0_41_18"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.18" class="v0_41_18">18</span>I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river, and they began feeding on the grass. </span><span class="v0_41_19"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.19" class="v0_41_19">19</span>Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. </span><span class="v0_41_20"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.20" class="v0_41_20">20</span>The skinny cows ate the fat ones. </span><span class="v0_41_21"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.21" class="v0_41_21">21</span>But you couldn't tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. At once, I woke up.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_22"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.22" class="v0_41_22">22</span>I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk. The heads were full and ripe. </span><span class="v0_41_23"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.23" class="v0_41_23">23</span>Then seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. </span><span class="v0_41_24"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.24" class="v0_41_24">24</span>These heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told my dreams to the magicians, but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_25"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.25" class="v0_41_25">25</span>Joseph replied:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_25">Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do. </span><span class="v0_41_26"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.26" class="v0_41_26">26</span>The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain. </span><span class="v0_41_27"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.27" class="v0_41_27">27</span>The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the desert wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_28"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.28" class="v0_41_28">28</span>It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do. </span><span class="v0_41_29"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.29" class="v0_41_29">29</span>For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain, </span><span class="v0_41_30"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.30" class="v0_41_30">30</span>but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving. </span><span class="v0_41_31"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.31" class="v0_41_31">31</span>The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty. </span><span class="v0_41_32"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.32" class="v0_41_32">32</span>God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v0_41_33"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.33" class="v0_41_33">33</span>Your Majesty, you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do, so that you can put him in charge of all Egypt. </span><span class="v0_41_34"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.34" class="v0_41_34">34</span>Then appoint some other officials to collect one fifth of every crop harvested in Egypt during the seven years when there is plenty. </span><span class="v0_41_35"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.35" class="v0_41_35">35</span>Give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities. </span><span class="v0_41_36"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.36" class="v0_41_36">36</span>It can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in Egypt. This will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt</h3><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_37"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.37" class="v0_41_37">37</span>The king<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.37!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and his officials liked this plan. </span><span class="v0_41_38"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.38" class="v0_41_38">38</span>So the king said to them, “Who could possibly handle this better than Joseph? After all, the Spirit of God is with him.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_39"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.39" class="v0_41_39">39</span>The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. </span><span class="v0_41_40"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.40" class="v0_41_40">40</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.40!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. </span><span class="v0_41_41"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.41" class="v0_41_41">41</span>You are now governor of all Egypt!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_42"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.42" class="v0_41_42">42</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.42!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. </span><span class="v0_41_43"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.43" class="v0_41_43">43</span>He also let him ride in the chariot next to his own, and people shouted, “Make way for Joseph!” So Joseph was governor of Egypt.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_44"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.44" class="v0_41_44">44</span>The king told Joseph, “Although I'm king, no one in Egypt is to do anything without your permission.” </span><span class="v0_41_45"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.45" class="v0_41_45">45</span>He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah. And he let him marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.45!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Joseph traveled all over<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.45!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Egypt.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_46"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.46" class="v0_41_46">46</span>Joseph was 30 when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. </span><span class="v0_41_47"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.47" class="v0_41_47">47</span>For seven years there were big harvests of grain. </span><span class="v0_41_48"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.48" class="v0_41_48">48</span>Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. </span><span class="v0_41_49"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.49" class="v0_41_49">49</span>In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_50"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.50" class="v0_41_50">50</span>Joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began. </span><span class="v0_41_51"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.51" class="v0_41_51">51</span>Their first son was named Manasseh, which means, “God has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home.” </span><span class="v0_41_52"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.52" class="v0_41_52">52</span>His second son was named Ephraim, which means “God has made me a success<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.52!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> in the land where I suffered.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.52!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_53"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.53" class="v0_41_53">53</span>Egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end, </span><span class="v0_41_54"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.54" class="v0_41_54">54</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.54!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was not enough food in other countries, but all over Egypt there was plenty. </span><span class="v0_41_55"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.55" class="v0_41_55">55</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gen.41.55!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> When the famine finally struck Egypt, the people asked the king for food, but he said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v0_41_56"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.56" class="v0_41_56">56</span>The famine became bad everywhere in Egypt, so Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the Egyptians. </span><span class="v0_41_57"><span class="reftext" id="Gen.41.57" class="v0_41_57">57</span>People from all over the world came to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was so severe in their countries.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the king: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 12.15.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.37 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">The king: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 12.15.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.45 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Heliopolis: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “On,” which is better known by its Greek name “Heliopolis.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.45 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">traveled all over: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “extended his authority over all.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.52 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">God has made me a success: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “God has given me children.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">41.52 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Ephraim … suffered: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In Hebrew “Ephraim” actually means either “fertile land” or “pastureland.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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