41 Some two years later, King Far’oh had a dream and in it, he was standing beside the Nile River. 2 Then, wow, seven fine-looking and well-fed cows came up out of the river, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 But wow, seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river after them, and they stood beside the other cows on the river bank. 4 Then the ugly, skinny cows ate the seven nice, fat cows, and then Far’oh woke up. 5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream. And wow, seven good, fat heads of grain came up on one stalk. 6 But wow, seven thin heads of grain sprouted after them—these heads of grain had been scorched by the hot, desert wind. 7 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good, fat heads. At that point, Far’oh woke up, and realised that it had been a dream. 8 That morning, Far’oh’s spirit was troubled, so he sent for all the sorcerers and wise men of Egypt and he told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for the king.[ref]

9 Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Far’oh saying, “I’ve just remembered my broken promise today. 10 The king had been angry with his servants, and he put me in the custody of the chief of the guards in his prison—me and the chief of the bakers. 11 The two of us each had a dream one night, and each of the dreams had different interpretations. 12 There was a young Hebrew man in there with us—a slave of the chief of the guards. When we told him our dreams, he interpreted our two different dreams for us. 13 And it all happened just as he’d interpreted them—I was restored to my position and the baker was executed.

14 So Far’oh sent for Yosef, and they quickly brought him in from the pit. When he’d shaved and changed his clothes, he was brought in to the king 15 who told him, “I had a dream but no one could interpret it. However, I heard that you could listen to a dream and explain what it means.”

16 “No, it’s not my ability,” Yosef responded, “but God will answer the king to give him peace.”

17 “In my dream,” Far’oh told Yosef, “wow, I was standing on the river bank 18 and then listen, up from the river came seven cows. They were well-fed and good-looking, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 Then listen, seven other cows came up after them. They were in poor condition and very ugly and skinny—I haven’t seen cows that ugly anywhere in Egypt. 20 Then the skinny, ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows, 21 but you wouldn’t know it because their bellies were just as skinny as before and they looked just as ugly as they had before. Then I woke up.

22 “Then I had another dream, and listen, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk. They were full and good. 23 Then listen, seven more heads of grain sprouted after them, but they were withered and thin, and scorched by the east wind. 24 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told these dreams to the sorcerers, but no one could explain them to me.”

25 Then Yosef said to Far’oh, “The king’s dreams are one and the same. God has shown Far’oh what he’s going to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years—both dreams mean the same. 27 And the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of drought. 28 That’s why I told Far’oh that God has shown him what he’s going to do. 29 Listen, there’s seven years coming of plentiful harvests throughout all of Egypt, 30 but seven years of drought will follow after them, such that the years of plenty will be quickly forgotten and famine will devastate the land. 31 Yes, the time of plenty won’t be remembered because of the famine that follows—it’ll be very severe. 32 And as for having two dreams with the same meaning, it’s because the matter has been established by God, and God will do it soon.

33 “So now the king should find a man who’s discerning and wise, and appoint him over all Egypt. 34 Then the king should get him to appoint supervisors all across the country to collect twenty percent of the crops during the seven years of plenty. 35 They should collect that surplus food in the coming good years, and store it in the cities under the king’s authority. It should be kept 36 and used as a reserve for the seven years of famine that will affect the country, so that the people will survive.