Book of Jasher 48
Chapter 48
1.
In those days, after the death of
Isaac, the Lord commanded and caused a famine upon the whole earth.
2.
At that time Pharaoh king of
upon his throne in the
his bed and dreamed dreams, and Pharaoh saw in his dream that he was standing
by the side of the
3.
And whilst he was standing he saw and
behold seven fat fleshed and well favored kine came
up out of the river.
4.
And seven other kine,
lean fleshed and ill favored, came up after them, and the seven ill favored
ones swallowed up the well favored ones, and still their appearance was ill as
at first.
5.
And he awoke, and he slept again and
he dreamed a second time, and he saw and behold seven ears of corn came up upon
one stalk, rank and good, and seven thin ears blasted with the east wind
sprang, up after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the full ones, and
Pharaoh awoke out of his dream.
6.
And in the morning the king
remembered his dreams, and his spirit was sadly troubled on account of his
dreams, and the king hastened and sent and called for all the magicians of
wise men, and they came and stood before Pharaoh.
7.
And the king said unto them, I have
dreamed dreams, and there is none to interpret them; and they said unto the
king, relate thy dreams to thy servants and let us hear them.
8.
And the king related his dreams to
them, and they all answered and said with one voice to the king, may the king
live forever; and this is the interpretation of thy dreams.
9.
The seven good kine
which thou didst see denote seven daughters that will be born unto thee in the
latter days, and the seven kine which thou sawest come up after them, and swallowed them up, are for a
sign that the daughters which will be born unto thee will all die in the
life-time of the king.
10.
And that which thou didst see in the
second dream of seven full good ears of corn coming up upon one stalk, this is
their interpretation, that thou wilt build unto thyself in the latter days
seven cities throughout the land of Egypt; and that which thou sawest of the seven blasted ears of corn springing up after
them and swallowing them up whilst thou didst behold them with thine eyes, is for a sign that the cities which thou wilt
build will all be destroyed in the latter days, in the life-time of the king.
11.
And when they spoke these words the
king did not incline his ear to their words, neither did he fix his heart upon
them, for the king knew in his wisdom that they did not give a proper interpretation
of the dreams; and when they had finished speaking before the king, the king
answered them, saying, What is this thing that you have spoken unto me? surely
you have uttered falsehood and spoken lies; therefore now give the proper
interpretation of my dreams, that you may not die.
12.
And the king commanded after this,
and he sent and called again for other wise men, and they came and stood before
the king, and the king related his dreams to them, and they all answered him
according to the first interpretation, and the king’s anger was kindled and he
was very wroth, and the king said unto them, Surely you speak lies and utter
falsehood in what you have said.
13.
And the king commanded that a
proclamation should be issued throughout the land of Egypt, saying, It is
resolved by the king and his great men, that any wise man who knoweth and understandeth the
interpretation of dreams, and will not come this day before the king, shall
die.
14.
And the man that will declare unto
the king the proper interpretation of his dreams, there shall be given unto him
all that he will require from the king. And all the wise men of the
the king, together with all the magicians and sorcerers that were in
all stood before the king.
15.
And all the nobles and the princes,
and the attendants belonging to the king, came together from all the cities of
all sat before the king, and the king related his dreams before the wise men,
and the princes, and all that sat before the king were astonished at the
vision.
16.
And all the wise men who were before
the king were greatly divided in their interpretation of his dreams; some of
them interpreted them to the king, saying, The seven good kine
are seven kings, who from the king’s issue will be raised over Egypt.
17.
And the seven bad kine
are seven princes, who will stand up against them in the latter days and
destroy them; and the seven ears of corn are the seven great princes belonging
to
fall in the hands of the seven less powerful princes of their enemies, in the
wars of our lord the king.
18.
And some of them interpreted to the
king in this manner, saying, The seven good kine are
the strong cities of
seven bad kine are the seven nations of the
come against the seven cities of
latter days and destroy them.
19.
And that which thou sawest in the second dream, of seven good and bad ears of
corn, is a sign that the government of
return to thy seed as at first.
20.
And in his reign the people of the
cities of
against the seven cities of
stronger than they are, and will destroy them, and the government of
to thy seed.
21.
And some of them said unto the king,
This is the interpretation of thy dreams; the seven good kine
are seven queens, whom thou wilt take for wives in the latter days, and the
seven bad kine denote that those women will all die
in the lifetime of the king.
22.
And the seven good and bad ears of
corn which thou didst see in the second dream are fourteen children, and it
will be in the latter days that they will stand up and fight amongst
themselves, and seven of them will smite the seven that are more powerful.
23.
And some of them said these words
unto the king, saying, The seven good kine denote
that seven children will be born to thee, and they will slay seven of thy
children’s children in the latter days; and the seven good ears of corn which
thou didst see in the second dream, are those princes against whom seven other
less powerful princes will fight and destroy them in the latter days, and
avenge thy children’s cause, and the government will again return to thy seed.
24.
And the king heard all the words of
the wise men of
interpretation of his dreams, and none of them pleased the king.
25.
And the king knew in his wisdom that
they did not altogether speak correctly in all these words, for this was from
the Lord to frustrate the words of the wise men of
that Joseph might go forth from the house of confinement, and in order that he
should become great in
26.
And the king saw that none amongst
all the wise men and magicians of
correctly to him, and the king’s wrath was kindled, and his anger burned within
him.
27.
And the king commanded that all the
wise men and magicians should go out from before him, and they all went out
from before the king with shame and disgrace.
28.
And the king commanded that a proclamation
be sent throughout
the magicians that were in
of them should be suffered to live.
29.
And the captains of the guards
belonging to the king rose up, and each man drew his sword, and they began to
smite the magicians of
wise men.
30.
And after this Merod,
chief butler to the king, came and bowed down before the king and sat before
him.
31.
And the butler said unto the king,
May the king live forever, and his government be exalted in the land.
32.
Thou wast
angry with thy servant in those days, now two years past, and didst place me in
the ward, and I was for some time in the ward, I and the chief of the bakers.
33.
And there was with us a Hebrew
servant belonging to the captain of the guard, his name was Joseph, for his
master had been angry with him and placed him in the house of confinement, and
he attended us there.
34.
And in some time after when we were
in the ward, we dreamed dreams in one night, I and the chief of the bakers; we
dreamed, each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
35.
And we came in the morning and told
them to that servant, and he interpreted to us our dreams, to each man
according to his dream, did he correctly interpret.
36.
And it came to pass as he interpreted
to us, so was the event; there fell not to the ground any of his words.
37.
And now therefore my lord and king do
not slay the people of Egypt for naught; behold that slave is still confined in
the house by the captain of the guard his master, in the house of confinement.
38.
If it pleaseth
the king let him send for him that he may come before thee and he will make
known to thee, the correct interpretation of the dream which thou didst dream.
39.
And the king heard the words of the
chief butler, and the king ordered that the wise men of Egypt should not be
slain.
40.
And the king ordered his servants to
bring Joseph before him, and the king said unto them, Go to him and do not
terrify him lest he be confused and will not know to speak properly.
41.
And the servants of the king went to
Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and the king’s
servants shaved him, and he changed his prison garment and he came before the
king.
42.
And the king was sitting upon his
royal throne in a princely dress girt around with a golden ephod, and the fine
gold which was upon it sparkled, and the carbuncle and the ruby and the
emerald, together with all the precious stones that were upon the king’s head,
dazzled the eye, and Joseph wondered greatly at the king.
43.
And the throne upon which the king
sat was covered with gold and silver, and with onyx stones, and it had seventy
steps.
44.
And it was their custom throughout
the land of Egypt, that every man who came to speak to the king, if he was a
prince or one that was estimable in the sight of the king, he ascended to the
king’s throne as far as the thirty-first step, and the king would descend to
the thirty-sixth step, and speak with him.
45.
If he was one of the common people,
he ascended to the third step, and the king would descend to the fourth and
speak to him, and their custom was, moreover, that any man who understood to
speak in all the seventy languages, he ascended the seventy steps, and went up
and spoke till he reached the king.
46.
And any man who could not complete
the seventy, he ascended as many steps as the languages which he knew to speak
in.
47.
And it was customary in those days in
Egypt that no one should reign over them, but who understood to speak in the
seventy languages.
48.
And when Joseph came before the king
he bowed down to the ground before the king, and he ascended to the third step,
and the king sat upon the fourth step and spoke with Joseph.
49.
And the king said unto Joseph, I
dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter to interpret it properly, and I
commanded this day that all the magicians of Egypt and the wise men thereof,
should come before me, and I related my dreams to them, and no one has properly
interpreted them to me.
50.
And after this I this day heard
concerning thee, that thou art a wise man, and canst correctly interpret every
dream that thou hearest.
51.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying,
Let Pharaoh relate his dreams that he dreamed; surely the interpretations
belong to God; and Pharaoh related his dreams to Joseph, the dream of the kine, and the dream of the ears of corn, and the king left
off speaking.
52.
And Joseph was then clothed with the
spirit of God before the king, and he knew all the things that would befall the
king from that day forward, and he knew the proper interpretation of the king’s
dream, and he spoke before the king.
53.
And Joseph found favor in the sight
of the king, and the king inclined his ears and his heart, and he heard all the
words of Joseph. And Joseph said unto the king, Do not imagine that they are
two dreams, for it is only one dream, for that which God has chosen to do throughout
the land he has shown to the king in his dream, and this is the proper
interpretation of thy dream:
54.
The seven good kine
and ears of corn are seven years, and the seven bad kine
and ears of corn are also seven years; it is one dream.
55.
Behold the seven years that are
coming there will be a great plenty throughout the land, and after that the
seven years of famine will follow them, a very grievous famine; and all the
plenty will be forgotten from the land, and the famine will consume the
inhabitants of the land.
56.
The king dreamed one dream, and the
dream was therefore repeated unto Pharaoh because the thing is established by
God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
57.
Now therefore I will give thee
counsel and deliver thy soul and the souls of the inhabitants of the land from
the evil of the famine, that thou seek throughout thy kingdom for a man very
discreet and wise, who knoweth all the affairs of
government, and appoint him to superintend over the land of Egypt.
58.
And let the man whom thou placest over Egypt appoint officers under him, that they
gather in all the food of the good years that are coming, and let them lay up
corn and deposit it in thy appointed stores.
59.
And let them keep that food for the
seven years of famine, that it may be found for thee and thy people and thy
whole land, and that thou and thy land be not cut off by the famine.
60.
Let all the inhabitants of the land
be also ordered that they gather in, every man the produce of his field, of all
sorts of food, during the seven good years, and that they place it in their
stores, that it may be found for them in the days of the famine and that they
may live upon it.
61.
This is the proper interpretation of
thy dream, and this is the counsel given to save thy soul and the souls of all
thy subjects.
62.
And the king answered and said unto
Joseph, Who sayeth and who knoweth
that thy words are correct? And he said unto the king, This shall be a sign for
thee respecting all my words, that they are true and that my advice is good for
thee.
63.
Behold thy wife sitteth
this day upon the stool of delivery, and she will bear thee a son and thou wilt
rejoice with him; when thy child shall have gone forth from his mother’s womb,
thy first born son that has been born these two years back shall die, and thou
wilt be comforted in the child that will be born unto thee this day.
64.
And Joseph finished speaking these
words to the king, and he bowed down to the king and he went out, and when
Joseph had gone out from the king’s presence, those signs which Joseph had
spoken unto the king came to pass on that day.
65.
And the queen bare a son on that day
and the king heard the glad tidings about his son, and he rejoiced, and when
the reporter had gone forth from the king’s presence, the king’s servants found
the first born son of the king fallen dead upon the ground.
66.
And there was great lamentation and
noise in the king’s house, and the king heard it, and he said, What is the
noise and lamentation that I have heard in the house? and they told the king
that his first born son had died; then the king knew that all Joseph’s words
that he had spoken were correct, and the king was consoled for his son by the
child that was born to him on that day as Joseph had spoken.
