Genesis 40
40
Chapter 40
Joseph tells two men what their dreams mean
1Some time later, two of the king's officers made him angry. One of them was the king's cupbearer. The other was the king's baker. #40:1 The cupbearer had authority in the king's house. He would make sure that the king's wine was safe to drink. The baker was someone who cooked bread in a hot oven.
2Pharaoh was very angry with his two officers, both the cupbearer and the baker. 3Pharaoh put them in the same prison that Joseph was in. It was in the house of the captain of the king's guards. 4They were in the prison for a long time. The captain of the guards made Joseph their servant, to help them.
5One night, both of the king's officers had a dream. Each dream had its own meaning. 6When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were upset. 7So Joseph asked the two officers, ‘Why are you so sad today?’
8They replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but there is nobody to tell us what they mean.’
Joseph said, ‘Only God can tell you the meaning of dreams. Tell your dreams to me.’
9So the king's cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me. 10There were three branches on it. New leaves appeared on the branches and then there were flowers. After that, there were grapes which became ripe. 11Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and I squeezed them. Then I put the juice into the cup and I gave the cup to Pharaoh.’
12Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three branches tell us about three days. 13In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and he will make you his officer again. #40:13 ‘lift up your head’ means ‘you will be important again’. You will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, as you did before. 14But when these good things happen to you, remember to be kind to me. Tell Pharaoh about me so that I will get out of this prison. 15Men took hold of me in the land of the Hebrews and they brought me here. Even here, I have not done anything wrong. I should not be in this prison.’
16The king's baker heard what Joseph had said to the cupbearer. He realized that the meaning of the cupbearer's dream was good. So he said to Joseph, ‘This was my dream. I had three baskets of bread on my head. 17The top basket contained many different kinds of bread for Pharaoh. But birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’
18Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three baskets tell us about three days. 19In three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head. He will hang you on a tree. Then birds will eat the meat off your body.’
20Three days later, it was Pharaoh's birthday. He gave a feast for all his officers. He lifted up the head of the cupbearer and he lifted off the head of the baker! He brought them both out of the prison so that all his officers could see.
21Pharaoh chose the cupbearer to be his own cupbearer again. So the cupbearer put Pharaoh's cup into his hand again, as he did before. 22But Pharaoh hanged the baker to kill him.
So everything happened in the way that Joseph had said it would happen. 23But the cupbearer did not think about Joseph. He completely forgot about him.
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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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