Genesis 41:2-18

2In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.

3Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.

4Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.

5But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.

6Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind.

7And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.

8The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams. So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.

9Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh.

10“Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard.

11One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning.

12There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant.

13And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”

14Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.

15Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

16“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

17So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River,

18and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.