Genesis 40:1-41:15

Common English Bible

Joseph interprets dreams in prison

40 Some time later, both the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief wine steward and the chief baker, ³ and he put them under arrest with the commander of the royal guard in the same jail where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴ The commander of the royal guard assigned Joseph to assist them. After they had been under arrest for some time, ⁵ both of them—the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king who were imprisoned in the jail—had dreams one night, and each man’s dream had its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph met them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷ He asked the officers of Pharaoh who were under arrest with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so distressed today?”

⁸ They answered, “We’ve both had dreams, but there’s no one to interpret them.”

Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Describe your dreams to me.”

⁹ The chief wine steward described his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine right in front of me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. When it budded, its blossoms appeared, and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² Joseph said to him, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three branches are three days. ¹³ After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and return you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just the way things were before when you were his wine steward. ¹⁴ But please, remember me when you are doing well and be loyal to me. Put in a good word for me to Pharaoh, so he sets me free from this prison. ¹⁵ I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I’ve done nothing to be thrown into this dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “It was the same for me. In my dream, there were three baskets of white bread^[a] on my head. ¹⁷ In the basket on top there were baked goods for Pharaoh’s food, but birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph responded, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and will hang you from a tree where birds will peck your flesh from you.”

²⁰ The third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a party for all of his servants. Before all of his servants, he gave an audience to the chief wine steward and the chief baker. ²¹ He returned the chief wine steward to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had said would happen when he interpreted their dreams for them. ²³ But the chief wine steward didn’t remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.

Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams

41 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^[b] and all of its advisors. Pharaoh described his dreams^[c] 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.”