Genesis 40:1-41:37

New King James Version

The Prisoners’ Dreams

40 It came to pass after these things that the ^(A)butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(B)angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. ^3 (C)So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

⁵ Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, ^(D)had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were ^[a]sad. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ^(E)“Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, ^(F)“We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, ^(G)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, ^(H)“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches ^(I)are three days. ¹³ Now within three days Pharaoh will ^(J)lift up your head and restore you to your ^[b]place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. ¹⁴ But ^(K)remember me when it is well with you, and ^(L)please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was ^(M)stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; ^(N)and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three ^[c]white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, ^(O)“This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ^19 (P)Within three days Pharaoh will lift ^[d]off your head from you and ^(Q)hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^(R)birthday, that he ^(S)made a feast for all his servants; and he ^(T)lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ Then he ^(U)restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and ^(V)he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But he ^(W)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but ^(X)forgot him.

Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that ^(Y)Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. ² Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴ And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the ^(Z)east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷ And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. ⁸ Now it came to pass in the morning ^(AA)that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all ^(AB)the magicians of Egypt and all its ^(AC)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the ^(AD)chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was ^(AE)angry with his servants, ^(AF)and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, ^11 (AG)we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now there was a young ^(AH)Hebrew man with us there, a ^(AI)servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he ^(AJ)interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And it came to pass, just ^(AK)as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

^14 (AL)Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ^(AM)brought him quickly ^(AN)out of the dungeon; and he shaved, ^(AO)changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. ^(AP)But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”

¹⁶ So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, ^(AQ)“It is not in me; ^(AR)God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, ^(AS)in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. ²¹ When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven ^[e]heads came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴ And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So ^(AT)I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^(AU)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ^[f]heads are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are ^(AV)seven years of famine. ^28 (AW)This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed ^(AX)seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will ^(AY)arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine ^(AZ)will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the ^(BA)thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ^[g]officers over the land, ^(BB)to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And ^(BC)let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the ^[h]authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ Then that food shall be as a ^[i]reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land ^(BD)may not ^[j]perish during the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷ So ^(BE)the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.