Genesis 40
40
Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams
1After this, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer # 40:1 Neh 1:11 and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guards # 40:3 Gn 39:20 in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time. # 40:4 Lit custody days
5The king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today? ” # 40:7 Neh 2:2
8“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” # 40:8 Dn 2:11,20–24
9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. 10On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12“This is its interpretation,” # 40:12 Gn 41:12; Dn 2:36 Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head # 40:13 Gn 40:19–22 and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. 14But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, # 40:15 Gn 37:28 and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.” # 40:15 Or pit, or cistern,# 40:15 Gn 39:20
16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18“This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. 19In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head #— #from off you #— #and hang you on a tree. # 40:19 Or and impale you on a pole Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.” # 40:19 Lit eat your flesh from upon you
20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated # 40:20 Lit He lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants. # 40:20 2Kg 25:27; Jr 52:31; Mt 14:6 21Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22But Pharaoh hanged # 40:22 Or impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. 23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. # 40:23 Ec 9:15–16
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Genesis 40: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 40
40
Joseph understood 2 men’s dreams
1-2Some time later, Joseph was still in jail in Egypt country. The big boss of Egypt country was called Pharaoh, and he had lots of men that worked for him. This story is about 2 of those men.
The 1st man was Pharaoh’s wine-boss. He used to make wine and other special drinks for Pharaoh. The 2nd man was Pharaoh’s bread-boss. He used to cook bread and cakes for Pharaoh to eat. Both of those men were important workers in Pharaoh’s house.
One day, that wine-boss and that bread-boss, they both did something that made Pharaoh really angry. 3So Pharaoh put those 2 men in jail. That jail was the same one that Joseph was in. The soldier that guarded that jail, he was in charge of all the soldiers that looked after Pharaoh’s house. 4That soldier said to Joseph, “You have to look after these 2 men.” So Joseph looked after that wine-boss and that bread-boss. And those 2 men stayed in jail for a long time.
5One night, that wine-boss and that bread-boss, they were both sleeping in the jail, and they both had dreams. Both those dreams showed things that will happen later on. But those 2 men didn’t understand what those dreams meant. So they felt sad and worried.
6The next morning, Joseph went to those 2 men, like he always did. He looked at their faces, and he saw that they were sad and worried. 7So he said to them, “Why are you so sad and worried today?”
8Then those 2 men said to Joseph, “We both had dreams last night, but we don’t understand what those dreams mean, and there is nobody here that can tell us what they mean.”
Joseph said, “Only God can tell people what dreams mean. Please tell me about your dreams. God will show me what they mean.”
9So the wine-boss told Joseph about his dream. He said, “In my dream, I saw a grape vine. 10That grape vine had 3 branches. Little flowers started to grow on those branches, then straight away, those flowers got big, and grapes grew from them, then those grapes got big. 11I had Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. So I took those grapes, and I squeezed the juice into Pharaoh’s cup. Then I gave that cup of juice to Pharaoh.”
12Then Joseph said to the wine-boss, “All right, I will tell you what that dream means. Those 3 branches that you saw, they are like a picture of 3 days. 13In 3 days time, Pharaoh will take you out of this jail, and he will get you to work for him again. You will make wine and other special drinks, just like you did before, and you will take those drinks and give them to Pharaoh.”
14Then Joseph said to the wine-boss, “Now you know that everything will go well for you. So please be good to me, and don’t forget about me. Please talk to Pharaoh, and say good things about me. Then maybe Pharaoh will take me out of this jail, and he will let me go free. 15You know, I am from the Hebrew tribe, and I used to live with my people, in my home country. But then some men grabbed me, and they took me away from my home country, and they brought me here to Egypt country. And now I’m in jail, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”
16The wine-boss listened to all those things that Joseph said, and the bread-boss listened too. That bread-boss thought, “That other man’s dream meant something good, so maybe my dream means something good too.”
So the bread-boss talked to Joseph, and he said, “I had a dream too. In my dream, there were 3 baskets of special bread on my head. 17The basket that was on top, it had all sorts of bread and cakes in it, and they were for Pharaoh to eat. But some birds were there, and they ate the bread and cakes that were in that basket.”
18Then Joseph said, “I will tell you what that dream means. Those 3 baskets that you saw, they are like a picture of 3 days. 19In 3 days time, Pharaoh will take you out of this jail, and his soldiers will cut off your head. Then they will hang your body on a pole, and birds will come and eat bits of your body.”
203 days later, it was Pharaoh’s birthday. So Pharaoh had a big party, with lots of good food, and he got all his important workers to come to that party. And Pharaoh got his soldiers to go and get that wine-boss and that bread-boss out of the jail. 21Then Pharaoh got that wine-boss to work for him again. He made wine and other special drinks, just like he did before, and he took those drinks and gave them to Pharaoh. 22But Pharaoh got his soldiers to kill that bread-boss, and they hung his body on a pole. All those things happened just the way Joseph said.
23But that wine-boss forgot about Joseph, and he didn’t talk to Pharaoh about him.
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