Genesis 40

1 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).

Now after these things the chief servant who had the care of the wine, and the chief bread-maker in Pharaoh's house, did something against Pharaoh's orders;

2 The king became angry with both of them.

And Pharaoh was angry with his two servants, with the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker;

3 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.

And he put them in prison under the care of the captain of the army, in the same prison where Joseph himself was shut up.

4 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.

And the captain put them in Joseph's care, and he did what was needed for them; and they were kept in prison for some time.

5 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.

And these two had a dream on the same night; the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker of the king of Egypt, who were in prison, the two of them had dreams with a special sense.

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

And in the morning when Joseph came to them he saw that they were looking sad.

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

And he said to the servants of Pharaoh who were in prison with him, Why are you looking so sad?

8 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.”

Then they said to him, We have had a dream, and no one is able to give us the sense. And Joseph said, Does not the sense of dreams come from God? what was your dream?

9 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.

Then the chief wine-servant gave Joseph an account of his dream, and said, In my dream I saw a vine before me;

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

And on the vine were three branches; and it seemed as if it put out buds and flowers, and from them came grapes ready for cutting.

11 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.”

And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and crushing them into Pharaoh's cup, gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.

12 [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.

Then Joseph said, This is the sense of your dream: the three branches are three days;

13 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.

After three days Pharaoh will give you honour, and put you back into your place, and you will give him his cup as you did before, when you were his wine-servant.

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

But keep me in mind when things go well for you, and be good to me and say a good word for me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison:

15 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!”

For truly I was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews; and I have done nothing for which I might be put in prison.

16 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.

Now when the chief bread-maker saw that the first dream had a good sense, he said to Joseph, I had a dream; and in my dream there were three baskets of white bread on my head;

17 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!”

And in the top basket were all sorts of cooked meats for Pharaoh; and the birds were taking them out of the baskets on my head.

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

Then Joseph said, This is the sense of your dream: the three baskets are three days;

19 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.”

After three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison, hanging you on a tree, so that your flesh will be food for birds.

20 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.

Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his servants; and he gave honour to the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker among the others.

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

And he put the chief wine-servant back in his old place; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.

22 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.

But the chief bread-maker was put to death by hanging, as Joseph had said.

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

But the wine-servant did not keep Joseph in mind or give a thought to him.