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.
26. The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity.
27. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.
28. “This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.
29. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt.
30. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land.
31. This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased.
32. As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
33. “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.
34. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years.