Genesis 40

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

40After this, the Egyptian king’s cupbearer ^land baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard ^min the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to them, and he became their personal attendant. And they were in custody for some time. ⁿ

⁵The Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” ^o

⁸“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” ^p

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. ¹⁰On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹²“This is its interpretation,” ^qJoseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head ^rand restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, ^sand even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.” ^t

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸“This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree. ^uThen the birds will eat the flesh from your body.” ^v

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ^w21Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²²But Pharaoh hanged ^xthe chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. ^y