Add parallel Print Page Options

Joseph Tells the Meaning of the Prisoners' Dreams

40 1-3 While Joseph was in prison, both the king's[a] personal servant[b] and his chief cook made the king angry. So he had them thrown into the same prison with Joseph. They spent a long time in prison, and the official in charge of the palace guard,[c] made Joseph their servant.

One night each of the two men had a dream, but their dreams had different meanings. The next morning, when Joseph went to see the men, he could tell they were upset, and he asked, “Why are you so worried today?”

“We each had a dream last night,” they answered, “and there is no one to tell us what they mean.”

Joseph replied, “Doesn't God know the meaning of dreams? Now tell me what you dreamed.”

The king's personal servant told Joseph, “In my dream I saw a vine 10 with three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its grapes became ripe. 11 I held the king's cup and squeezed the grapes into it, then I gave the cup to the king.”

12 Joseph said:

This is the meaning of your dream. The three branches stand for three days, 13 and in three days the king will pardon you. He will make you his personal servant again, and you will serve him his wine, just as you used to do.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 40.1-3 the king's: See the note at 12.15.
  2. 40.1-3 personal servant: The Hebrew text has “cup bearer,” an important and trusted official in the royal court, who personally served wine to the king.
  3. 40.4 the palace guard: Possibly Potiphar (see 39.1).

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40 Some time later, the cupbearer(A) and the baker(B) of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry(C) with his two officials,(D) the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,(E) in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard(F) assigned them to Joseph,(G) and he attended them.

After they had been in custody(H) for some time, each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream(I) the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.(J)

When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody(K) with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”(L)

“We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”(M)

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?(N) Tell me your dreams.”

So the chief cupbearer(O) told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed,(P) and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

12 “This is what it means,(Q)” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.(R) 13 Within three days(S) Pharaoh will lift up your head(T) and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.(U)

Read full chapter