Genesis 40
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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 40:6 dejected
- Genesis 40:13 position
- Genesis 40:16 Or baskets of white bread
- Genesis 40:19 Lit. up
Genesis 40
Contemporary English Version
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. 4 They spent a long time in prison, and the official in charge of the palace guard,[c] made Joseph their servant.
5 One night each of the two men had a dream, but their dreams had different meanings. 6 The next morning, when Joseph went to see the men, he could tell they were upset, 7 and he asked, “Why are you so worried today?”
8 “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.”
9 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. 14 But when these good things happen, please don't forget to tell the king about me, so I can get out of this place. 15 I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here in Egypt I haven't done anything to deserve being thrown in jail.
16 When the chief cook saw that Joseph had given a good meaning to the dream, he told Joseph, “I also had a dream. In it I was carrying three breadbaskets stacked on top of my head. 17 The top basket was full of all kinds of baked things for the king, but birds were eating them.”
18 Joseph said:
This is the meaning of your dream. The three baskets are three days, 19 (A) and in three days the king will cut off your head. He will hang your body on a pole, and birds will come and peck at it.
20 Three days later, while the king was celebrating his birthday with a dinner for his officials, he sent for his personal servant and the chief cook. 21 He put the personal servant back in his old job 22 and had the cook put to death.
Everything happened just as Joseph had said it would, 23 but the king's personal servant completely forgot about Joseph.
Genesis 40
English Standard Version
Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams
40 Some time after this, the (A)cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 (B)and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.
5 And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, (C)“Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, (D)“We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, (E)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 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 Then Joseph said to him, (F)“This is its interpretation: (G)the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will (H)lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For (I)I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and (J)here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, (K)“This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 (L)In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and (M)hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh's (N)birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and (O)lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 (P)He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and (Q)he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22 But he (R)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
