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Genesis 41

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1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.

2 And behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored cows and fat-fleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

3 And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed; and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river.

4 And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.

5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

6 And behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

8 And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them to Pharaoh.

9 Then spoke the chief butler to Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:

10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in custody in the captain of the guard's house, both me, and the chief baker:

11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he: we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

12 And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he interpreted.

13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was: me he restored to my office, and him he hanged.

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came before Pharaoh.

15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard it said of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

18 And behold, there came out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed, and well-favored; and they fed in a meadow:

19 And behold, seven other cows came out after them, poor, and very ill-favored, and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

20 And the lean and the ill-favored cows ate up the first seven fat cows:

21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22 And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good:

23 And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this to the magicians; but there was none that could explain it to me.

25 And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one; God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

26 The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

27 And the seven thin and ill-favored cows that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind will be seven years of famine.

28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh: What God is about to do he showeth to Pharaoh.

29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine following: for it will be very grievous.

32 And for that the dream was doubled to Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh; and let them keep food in the cities.

36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land may not perish through the famine.

37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find such a man as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?

39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had: and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On: and Joseph went over all the land of Egypt.

46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt: and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfulls.

48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field which was around every city, he laid up in the same.

49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came: which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bore to him.

51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.

52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

53 And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.

54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.

57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because the famine was distressing in all lands.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 5159

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5159. 'And it happened on the third day' means in the final phase. This is clear from the meaning of 'the third day' as the final phase of a state; for 'day' means state, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, and 'third' that which is complete, and so comes last, 1815, 2788, 4495. By the final phase of a state is meant the point when the previous state comes to an end and the new one begins. In the case of the person who is being regenerated a new state begins when order is turned around. The change takes place when interior things are given dominion over exterior ones, and exterior things begin to serve interior ones - which involves both ideas in the understanding and desires in the will. People who are being regenerated are conscious of this change as an inner urge not to allow sensory delights and bodily or earthly pleasures to take control, and draw ideas present in the understanding over to their own side to support them. When this change takes place the previous state has reached its final phase and the new one is entering its first. This is what is meant by 'on the third day'.

[2] In everyone, whether or not he is being regenerated, changes of state take place, and order is turned around. Yet such changes are different in the case of those who are being regenerated than in the case of those who are not being regenerated. With those who are not being regenerated those changes of state or order are due to physical causes or are attributable to causes associated with life in the community. Physical causes are those impulses which arise at one stage in life and subside at another, in addition to the giving of deliberate thought to physical health and a long life in the world. The causes connected with life in the community are the external, visible curbs a person has to place on his real desire, so that he may earn a reputation for being a wise person and a lover of what is righteous and good, when in fact the acquisition of position and material gain is his real reason for pursuing such. But in the case of people who are being regenerated, such changes of state or order are attributable to spiritual causes which spring from goodness and righteousness themselves; and when a person starts to have an affection for these he is at the end of the previous state and at the beginning of the new one.

[3] But as few are capable of seeing the truth of all this, let an example serve to shed light on the matter. Anyone who does not allow himself to be regenerated loves things of the body for their own sake, not for any other reason; and he loves the world too for its own sake. His love does not reach any higher because at heart he refuses to accept anything higher or more interior. On the other hand one who is being regenerated also loves things of the body, and worldly things likewise. Yet he loves them for higher or more interior reasons. He loves things of the body because he wishes to have a healthy mind inside a healthy body. Also, he loves his own mind and its healthiness for an even more interior reason, namely that he may have a wise discernment of what is good and an intelligent understanding of what is true. He also loves worldly things as much as others do, yet for the reason that the world, worldly wealth, possessions, and positions of importance may serve him as the means to put what is good and true or what is just and fair into effect.

[4] This example enables one to see what each one - the regenerate and the unregenerate - is really like, and to see that outwardly the two are apparently alike but that inwardly they are totally different. From this one may also recognize the identity and the essential nature of the causes which bring about the changes of state and turnings around of order that take place with people who are not being regenerated and those that take place with people who are being regenerated. One may also see that in the case of regenerate persons interior things have dominion over exterior ones, whereas in the case of unregenerate persons exterior ones have dominion over interior. The reasons or the ends that a person has in view are what have dominion, for those ends subordinate everything else in a person and make it subject to themselves. The person's whole life is conditioned entirely by his end in view, for that end is what he loves all the time.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.