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).

Later on the cupbearer and the baker committed some offense against their master, the king of Egypt.

2 The king became angry with both of them.

Pharaoh was angry with these two royal officials—the chief cupbearer and chief baker—

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 imprisoned them in the house of the commander of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was.

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.

The commander of the guard assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant. 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.

One night while they were in prison the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt each had a dream. They were different dreams, each with its own meaning.

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

When Joseph arrived the next morning he noticed they both looked depressed.

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

So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were imprisoned with him in his master's house, “Why are you looking so depressed?”

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.”

“We've both had dreams but can't find anyone to explain what they mean,” they said. So Joseph told them, “Isn't God the one who can interpret the meaning of dreams? Tell me your dreams.”

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.

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. “In my dream there was a vine right in front of me,” he explained.

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

“The vine had three branches. As soon as it budded, it flowered, and produced clusters of ripe grapes.

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.”

I was holding Pharaoh's wine cup, so I picked the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to Pharaoh.”

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.

“This is the meaning,” Joseph told him. “The three branches represent 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.

In three days' time Pharaoh will take you out of prison and give you back your job, and you will hand Pharaoh his cup as you used to.

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

But when things go well for you, please remember me with kindness and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf, and please 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!”

I was cruelly kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and now I'm here in this pit even though I've done nothing wrong.”

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.

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. I had three baskets of cakes 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!”

In the top basket were all the cakes and pastries for Pharaoh to eat, and the birds were eating them from the basket on my head.”

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

“This is the meaning,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets represent 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.”

In three days' time Pharaoh will take you out of prison and hang you on a pole, and birds will eat your flesh.”

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.

Three days later it happened to be Pharaoh's birthday, and he arranged a banquet for all his officials. He had the chief cupbearer and the chief baker released from prison and brought there before his officials.

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.

He gave the chief cupbearer his job back, and he returned to his duties of handing Pharaoh his cup.

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 he hanged the chief baker just as Joseph had said when he interpreted their dreams.

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

But the chief cupbearer didn't remember to say anything about Joseph—in fact he forgot all about him.