11. We both dreamed one night, he and I, and each of our dreams had its own interpretation.
12. A young Hebrew man, a servant of the commander of the royal guard, was with us. We described our dreams to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us, giving us an interpretation for each dream.
13. His interpretations came true exactly: Pharaoh restored me to my position but hanged him."
14. So Pharaoh summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed clothes, and appeared before Pharaoh.
15. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, but no one could interpret it. Then I heard that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it."
16. Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It’s not me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable response."
17. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile.
18. In front of me, seven fattened, stout cows climbed up out of the Nile and grazed on the reeds.
19. Just then, seven other cows, weak and frail and thin, climbed up after them. I’ve never seen such awful cows in all the land of Egypt.
20. Then the thin, frail cows devoured the first seven, fattened cows.
21. But after they swallowed them whole, no one would have known it. They looked just as bad as they had before. Then I woke up.
22. I went to sleep again and saw in my dream seven full and healthy ears of grain growing on one stalk.
23. Just then, seven hard and thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them,
24. and the thin ears swallowed up the healthy ears. I told the religious experts, but they couldn’t explain it to me."
25. Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh has actually had one dream. God has announced to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26. The seven healthy cows are seven years, and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years. It’s actually one dream.
27. The seven thin and frail cows, climbing up after them, are seven years. The seven thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, are seven years of famine.
28. It’s just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.