Joseph’s Dreams

So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.

Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams

Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master.

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.

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days.

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.

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days.

But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River,

Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are.

Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The Escape to Egypt

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

The Return to Nazareth

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.