looked heauely. Awaking, and fallen againe into a deep sleep, 22I saw a dreame: Seuen eares of corne grew forth vpon one stalke, ful and verie faire. 23Other seuen also thinne and blasted with adustion, sprang of the stalke: 24which deuoured the beautie of the former: I told the dreame to the coniecturers, and there is no man that can declare it. 25Ioseph answered: The Kings dreame is one: God hath shewed to Pharao [1] the things that he wil doe. 26The seuen faire kine, and the seuen ful eares, be seuen yeares of plentifulnes: and both conteine the selfe-same meaning of the dreame. 27Also the seuen leane and thinne kine, that came vp after them, and the seuen thinne eares, and blasted with the burning wind: are seuen yeares of famine to come. 28Which shal be fulfilled in this order. 29Behold there shal come seuen yeares of great fertilitie in the whole Land of Ægypt: 30after which shal folow other seuen yeares of so great sterilitie, that al the abundance before shal be forgotten: for the famine shal consume al the land, 31and the greatnes of the scarcitie shal destroy the greatnes of the plentie. 32And in that thou didest see the second time a dreame perteining to the same thing, it is a token of the certeintie, for that the worde of God shal come to passe, and be fulfilled speedily. 33Now therfore let the King prouide a wise man and industrious, & make him Ruler ouer the Land of Ægypt: 34that he may appointe ouerseers ouer al countries: and gather into barnes the fifth part of the fruits, during the seuen yeares of the fertilitie, 35that now presently shal ensue: and let al the corne be laid vp vnder Pharaoes hands, and let it be reserued in the cities. 36And let it be in a readines, against the famine of seuen yeares to come, which shal oppresse Ægypt, and the land shal not be consumed with scarcitie. 37The counsel pleased Pharao, and al his seruants: 38and he spake to them: Can we find such an other man, that is ful of the spirit of God? 39He said therfore to Ioseph: Because God hath shewed thee al things that thou hast spoken, can I find a wiser and one like vnto thee? 40Thou shalt be ouer my house, & at the commandement of thy mouth al the people shal obey: only in the throne of the Kingdome I wil goe before thee. 41And againe Pharao said to Ioseph: Behold, I haue appointed thee ouer the whole land of Ægypt. 42And he tooke his ring from his owne hand, and gaue it into his hand: and he put vpon him a silke robe, and put a chaine of gold about his necke. 43And he made him goe vp into his second chariot, the cryer proclayming that al should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was ″ made Gouernour ouer the whole Land of Ægypt. 44And the King said to Ioseph: I am Pharao: without thy commandment no man shal moue hand or foot in al the land of Ægypt. 45And he turned his name, & called him in the Ægyptian tong ″ the Sauiour of the world. And he gaue him to wife Aseneth the daughter of Putiphar [2] Priest of Heliopolis. Ioseph therfore went forth to the land of Ægypt (46and he was thirtie yeares old when he stood in the
- ↑ These things came to passe by Gods particular prouidence. Psal. 4. God called (or caused) a famine upon the land.
- ↑ Cohen signifieth Priest; as not only the latin, but also the 70. & Philo and Iosephus here translate; though sometimes it signifieth Prince, as the Chaldey paraphrasis interpreteth, wherby it is probable that this Putiphar was both a Priest, and a Prince.
