World English Bible · The patriarchs
Genesis 41
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At the end of two full years, dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So awoke. He slept and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. awoke, and behold, it was a . In the morning, his was troubled, and he sent and called for all of magicians and men. told them his , but there was no one who could them to . Then the chief bearer spoke to , saying, "I remember my faults today. was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, with the chief baker. We dreamed a in one night, he and I. Each man dreamed according to the of his . There was with us there a young man, a , servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our . He interpreted to each man according to his . As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him." Then sent and called , and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to . said to , "I have dreamed a , and there is no one who can it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a you can it." answered , saying, "It isn't in me. will give an answer of peace." 17 spoke to , "In my , behold, I stood on the brink of the river; and behold, seven fat and sleek cattle came up out of the river. They fed in the marsh grass; 19and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of for ugliness. 20The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle; and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22I saw in my , and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good; and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me." said to , "The of is one. What is about to do he has declared to . The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The is one. The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of . That is the thing which I have spoken to . has shown what he is about to do. Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of are coming. Seven years of will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of . The will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that which follows; for it will be very grievous. The was doubled to , because the thing is established by , and will shortly bring it to pass. "Now therefore let look for a discreet and man, and set him over the land of . Let do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of produce in the seven plenteous years. Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of for food in the cities, and let them keep it. The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of , which will be in the land of ; so that the land will not through the ." The thing was good in the eyes of , and in the eyes of all his servants. said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is of ?" said to , "Because has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and as you. You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in I will be greater than you." said to , "Behold, I have set you over all the land of ." took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of . said to , "I am . Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of ." called name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him , the daughter of as a wife. went out over the land of . was thirty years old when he stood before king of . went out from the of , and went throughout all the land of . In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of , and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. To were born two sons before the year of came, whom , the daughter of , bore to him. called the name of , "For", he said, " has made me forget all my toil, and all house." The name of the second, he called : "For has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of , came to an end. The seven years of began to come, as had said. There was in all lands, but in all the land of there was bread. When all the land of was famished, the people cried to for bread, and said to all the , "Go to . What he says to you, do." The was over all the surface of the earth. opened all the store houses, and sold to the . The was severe in the land of . All countries came into , to , to buy grain, because the was severe in all the earth.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
All of Genesis