25. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of these dreams have the same meaning. God is telling you what will happen soon.
26. The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven good years.
27. And the seven thin, sick-looking cows and the seven thin heads of grain mean that there will be seven years of hunger in this area. These seven bad years will come after the seven good years.
28. God has shown you what will happen soon. He will make these things happen just as I told you.
29. For seven years there will be plenty of food in Egypt.
30. But then there will be seven years of hunger. The people will forget how much food there had been in Egypt before. This famine will ruin the country.
31. It will be so bad that people will forget what it was like to have plenty of food.
32. “Pharaoh, you had two dreams about the same thing. That means God wanted to show you that he really will make this happen, and he will make it happen soon!
33. So, Pharaoh, you should choose a wise, intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt.
34. Then you should choose other men to collect food from the people. During the seven good years, the people must give them one-fifth of all the food they grow.
35. In this way these men will collect all the food during the seven good years and store it in the cities until it is needed. Pharaoh, this food will be under your control.
36. Then during the seven years of hunger, there will be food for the country of Egypt. And Egypt will not be destroyed by the famine.”
37. This seemed like a very good idea to Pharaoh, and all his officials agreed.