12 ^gAs the sun was going down, a ^hdeep sleep fell on Abram. ⁱAnd behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^jyour offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be ^kafflicted for ^lfour hundred years. 14 But ^mI will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ⁿthey shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ^oyou shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And ^pthey shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ^qthe iniquity of the Amorites is ^rnot yet complete.”

12 And he ^zdreamed, and behold, there was a ladder¹ set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^athe angels of God were ascending and descending on it!

10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a ⁿdream ^othat the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then ^pthe angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the ^qGod of Bethel, ^rwhere you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a ^adream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to ^bsay anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

5 Now Joseph had a ^ydream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^zbowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were ^ajealous of him, but his father ^bkept the saying in mind.

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

1 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, ^bin the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

5 And one night they both ^cdreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were ^dtroubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and ^ethere is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, ^f“Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the ^gthree branches are three days. 13 ^hIn three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only ⁱremember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For ^jI was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and ^khere also I have done nothing that they should ^lput me into the pit.”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. ^mAnd the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not ⁿremember Joseph, but forgot him.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

1 After two whole years, Pharaoh ^odreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the ^peast wind. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the morning his spirit was ^qtroubled, and ^rhe sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ^sbut there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, ^t“I remember my offenses today. 10 ^uWhen Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 ^vwe dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. ^wWhen we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 ^xAnd as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

14 ^yThen Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him ^zout of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. ^aI have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, ^b“It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”¹ 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. 18 Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19 Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23 Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^cGod has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The ^dseven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also ^eseven years of famine. 28 It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will come ^fseven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32 And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take ^gone-fifth of the produce of the land² of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”