16. “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
17. So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River,
18. and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.
19. But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt.
20. These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows.
21. But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
22. “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.
23. Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind.
24. And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.”
25. Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.