15. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can tell me what it means. I heard that when you are told a dream, you can say what it means.”
16. Joseph answered Pharaoh, “I can’t, but God can give Pharaoh the answer that he needs.”
17. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile.
18. Suddenly, seven nice-looking, well-fed cows came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.
19. Seven other cows came up behind them. These cows were scrawny, very sick, and thin. I’ve never seen such sickly cows in all of Egypt!
20. The thin, sickly cows ate up the seven well-fed ones.
21. Even though they had eaten them, no one could tell they had eaten them. They looked just as sick as before. Then I woke up.
22. “In my second dream I saw seven good, full heads of grain growing on a single stalk.
23. Seven other heads of grain, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted behind them.
24. The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but no one could tell me what it meant.”
25. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh had the same dream twice. God has told Pharaoh what he’s going to do.
26. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It’s all the same dream.
27. The seven thin, sickly cows that came up behind them are seven years. The seven empty heads of grain scorched by the east wind are also seven years. Seven years of famine are coming.
28. “It’s just as I said to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he’s going to do.