Genesis 40

1 After these things, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

Some time later, two of the king of Egypt’s officials did things that displeased him. One was his chief (drink-server/man who prepared the wine and served it to the king), and the other was his chief (baker/man who baked bread for the king).

2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker.

The king became angry with both of them.

3 He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

So he had them put in prison, in the house of the captain of the palace guards. That was the place where Joseph was being kept.

4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days.

The two men were in prison for a long time. And during that time the captain of the palace guards appointed Joseph to be their servant, to take care of their needs.

5 They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.

One night while the king’s drink-server and his baker were there in the prison, each of them had a dream. Each dream had a different meaning.

6 Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad.

The next morning, when Joseph came to them, he saw that both of them were dejected/worried.

7 He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

So he asked them, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”

One of them answered, “We both had dreams last night, but there is no one who can tell us the meaning of the dreams.” Joseph said to them, “God is the only one who can [RHQ] tell the meaning of dreams. So tell me what you dreamed, and God will tell me the meaning.”

9 The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me,

So the king’s chief drink-server told his dream to Joseph. He said, “In my dream I saw a grapevine in front of me.

10 and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.

On the vine there were three branches. After the branches budded, they blossomed, and then they produced clusters of grapes.

11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

I was holding the king’s cup, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I gave the cup to the king to drink the juice.”

12 Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.

[God immediately told Joseph what the dream meant]. So Joseph said to him, “This is the meaning of your dream: The three branches of the vine represent three days.

13 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer.

Within three days the king will release you from prison. He will let you do the work that you did before. You will take cups of wine to the king as you did before, when you were his drink-server.

14 But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.

But when you are out of prison and everything goes well for you, please do not forget me.

15 For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

People took me away forcefully from the land where my fellow Hebrews live. [I did nothing wrong there], and also while I have been here in Egypt, I have done nothing for which I deserved to be put in prison. So be kind to me and tell the king about me, so that he will release me from this prison!”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head.

When the chief baker heard that the meaning of the dream of the king’s drink-server was very favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. In the dream I was surprised to see three baskets of bread stacked on my head.

17 In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

In the top basket there were many kinds of baked goods for the king, but birds were eating them from the top basket that was on my head!”

18 Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days.

God again told Joseph what the dream meant, so he said, “The three baskets also represent three days.

19 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.”

Within three days the king will command that your head be cut off. Then your body will be hung on a tree, and vultures will come and eat your flesh.”

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

The third day after that was the (king’s birthday/day they celebrated when the king became one year older). On that day the king invited all his officials to celebrate his birthday. During the celebration, while they were all gathered there, the king summoned his chief drink-server and chief baker from the prison.

21 He restored the chief cup bearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;

He said that his chief drink-server could have his previous job again, so that again he took cups of wine to the king.

22 but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

But he commanded that the chief baker should be killed by being hanged, just as Joseph had said would happen when he told the two men the meaning of their dreams.

23 Yet the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

But the chief drink-server did not think about Joseph. He forgot to do what Joseph asked him to do.