² when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat,^(A) and they grazed among the reeds.^{(B) 3} After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. ⁴ And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.^(C)

⁵ He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain,^(D) healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. ⁶ After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind.^{(E) 7} The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up;^(F) it had been a dream.

²⁶ The seven good cows^(A) are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. ²⁷ The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.^(B)

²⁸ “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.^{(C) 29} Seven years of great abundance^(D) are coming throughout the land of Egypt, ³⁰ but seven years of famine^(E) will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.^(F)