Joseph Interprets Dreams

40 Then it came about after these things, that (A)the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was (B)furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the (C)captain of the bodyguard, in the prison, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he [a]took care of them; and they were in confinement for [b]some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. [c]When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, [d]behold, they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “[e](D)Why are your faces so sad today?” And they said to him, “(E)We have [f]had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “(F)Do interpretations not belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, [g]saying to him, “In my dream, [h]behold, there was a vine in front of me; 10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s [i]hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the (G)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13 within three more days Pharaoh will [j]lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only [k]keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please (H)do me a kindness [l]by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this [m]prison. 15 For (I)I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the [n]dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; 17 and in the top basket there were some of all [o]kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

20 So it came about on the third day, which was (J)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; (K)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his [p]office, and (L)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s [q]hand; 22 but (M)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but (N)forgot him.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 40:4 Lit ministered to
  2. Genesis 40:4 Lit days
  3. Genesis 40:6 Or And
  4. Genesis 40:6 Lit and behold
  5. Genesis 40:7 Lit saying, Why
  6. Genesis 40:8 Lit dreamed
  7. Genesis 40:9 Lit and said
  8. Genesis 40:9 Lit and behold
  9. Genesis 40:11 Lit palm
  10. Genesis 40:13 I.e., a royal gesture of forgiveness
  11. Genesis 40:14 Lit remember me with yourself
  12. Genesis 40:14 Lit and mention
  13. Genesis 40:14 Lit house
  14. Genesis 40:15 Or pit
  15. Genesis 40:17 Lit food for Pharaoh made by a baker
  16. Genesis 40:21 Lit wine-pouring
  17. Genesis 40:21 Lit palm

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams

40 Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.

While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning. When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.

And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.”

“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”

So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me. 10 The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. 11 I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

12 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. 14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head. 17 The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. 19 Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”

20 Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned[a] his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials. 21 He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. 22 But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. 23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

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Footnotes

  1. 40:20 Hebrew He lifted up the head of.