GenesisChapter 40

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹Some time later, the king's cupbearer and his baker did something wrong. They offended their master, the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry with these two officers. One was the chief cupbearer, and the other was the chief baker. ³So he put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. It was the same prison where Joseph was kept. ⁴The captain of the guard put Joseph in charge of them, and Joseph took care of them. They were in prison for some time. ⁵Then both of these men had a dream on the same night. They were the Egyptian king's cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison. Each dream had its own meaning. ⁶Joseph came to them in the morning. He saw that they were very upset. ⁷These officials of Pharaoh were in prison with Joseph in his master's house. So he asked them, "Why do you look so sad today?" ⁸"We both had dreams," they answered. "But there is no one to tell us what they mean." Joseph said to them, "Isn't it God who tells what dreams mean? Tell me your dreams." ⁹So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. "In my dream I saw a grapevine in front of me. ¹⁰The vine had three branches. As soon as it budded, its flowers opened. Then its bunches of grapes became ripe. ¹¹Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and squeezed them into his cup. Then I put the cup in his hand." ¹²Joseph said, "This is what it means. The three branches are three days. ¹³Within three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and give you back your job. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand again, just as you did when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴But when things go well for you, please remember me. Please be kind to me and tell Pharaoh about me. Then maybe he will get me out of this prison. ¹⁵For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in this dungeon." ¹⁶The chief baker saw that the meaning of the dream was good. So he said to Joseph, "I had a dream too. There were three baskets of white bread on my head. ¹⁷In the top basket were all kinds of baked foods for Pharaoh. But the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head." ¹⁸Joseph said, "This is what it means. The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹Within three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head. He will hang your body on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body." ²⁰The third day was Pharaoh's birthday. He gave a big feast for all his officials. In front of them all, he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ²¹Pharaoh gave the chief cupbearer back his job. Once again he put the cup in Pharaoh's hand. ²²But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker. It happened just as Joseph had said when he told them what their dreams meant. ²³But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph. He forgot all about him.