Study Desk

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile;

and behold, seven cows, ^(F1)fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.

"Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^(F1)ugly and ^(F2)thin, such as I had never seen for ^(F3)ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows.

"Yet when they had ^(F1)devoured them, it could not be ^(F2)detected that they had ^(F1)devoured them, ^(F3)for they were just as ugly as ^(F4)before. Then I awoke.

"I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them;

and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(C1)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's ^(F1)dreams are one and the same; ^(C1)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

"The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ^(F1)dreams are one and the same.

"The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(C1)will be seven years of famine.

"^(F1)It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(C1)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

"Behold, ^(C1)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

and after them ^(C1)seven years of famine will ^(F1)come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^(F2)ravage the land.

"So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

"Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(C1)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.