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.