Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Comment: Yesterday’s reading ended with Joseph telling Pharaoh that God would, through him, give the dream’s explanation. You may wonder, or at least I do, what Pharaoh thought about a man dragged out of prison delivering the explanation of a frightening dream. At any rate he honestly tells the dream in full and if you’ve read the story before you may think that the explanation is pretty simple and straightforward. There will be seven years (fat cows) of good harvests. Seven terrible years (thin cows) will follow and all the benefit of the good years will be gone. The cows are replaced by ears of corn growing on a stem, bringing everything into an impending famine and starvation message. Joseph ends by saying that it is God’s message to the Pharaoh, presumably giving him a chance to be prepared.
Prayer: When I understand what You desire, O God, help me to do it!
As I read it! 