The Cupbearer and the Baker

40 Some time later, the cupbearerm and the bakern of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angryo with his two officials,p the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,q in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guardr assigned them to Joseph,s and he attended them.

After they had been in custodyt for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dreamu the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.v

6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custodyw with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”x

8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”y

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?z Tell me your dreams.”

9 So the chief cupbearera told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed,b and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

12 “This is what it means,c” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.d 13 Within three dayse Pharaoh will lift up your headf and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.g 14 But when all goes well with you, remember meh and show me kindness;i mention me to Pharaohj and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews,k and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”l

16 When the chief bakerm saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation,n he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three basketso of bread.a 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days.p 19 Within three daysq Pharaoh will lift off your headr and impale your body on a pole.s And the birds will eat away your flesh.”t

20 Now the third dayu was Pharaoh’s birthday,v and he gave a feast for all his officials.w He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief bakerx in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearery to his position,z so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s handa—22 but he impaled the chief baker,b just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.c

23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.d

Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream:e He was standing by the Nile,f 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat,g and they grazed among the reeds.h 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.i

5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain,j healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind.k 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up;l it had been a dream.

8 In the morning his mind was troubled,m so he sent for all the magiciansn and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.o

9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.p 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants,q and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.r 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.s 12 Now a young Hebrewt was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.u We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.v 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.w”

14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.x When he had shavedy and changed his clothes,z he came before Pharaoh.

15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.a But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”b

16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”c

17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,d 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.e 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.f”

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same.g God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.h 26 The seven good cowsi are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.j

28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.k 29 Seven years of great abundancel are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of faminem will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.n 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decidedo by God, and God will do it soon.p