"Embracing Who We Are and Who We Hope to Be"

Our scripture today is from Genesis, chapter 41 verses 1-16 from the Common English Bible.

1 Two years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing near the Nile. 2 In front of him, seven healthy-looking, fattened cows climbed up out of the Nile and grazed on the reeds. 3 Just then, seven other cows, terrible-looking and scrawny, climbed up out of the Nile after them and stood beside them on the bank of the Nile. 4 The terrible-looking, scrawny cows devoured the seven healthy-looking, fattened cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He went back to sleep and had a second dream, in which seven ears of grain, full and healthy, grew on a single stalk. 6 Just then, seven ears of grain, scrawny and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them, 7 and the scrawny ears swallowed up the full and well-formed ears. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. 8 In the morning, he was disturbed and summoned all of Egypt's religious experts and all of its advisors. Pharaoh described his dreams to them, but they couldn't interpret them for Pharaoh. 9 Then the chief wine steward spoke to Pharaoh: "Today I've just remembered my mistake. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker under arrest with the commander of the royal guard. 11 We both dreamed one night, he and I, and each of our dreams had its own interpretation. 12 A young Hebrew man, a servant of the commander of the royal guard, was with us. We described our dreams to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us, giving us an interpretation for each dream. 13 His interpretations came true exactly: Pharaoh restored me to my position but hanged him." 14 So Pharaoh summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed clothes, and appeared before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, but no one could interpret it. Then I heard that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it." 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It's not me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable response."