Genesis 40
40
Joseph interprets dreams in prison
1Some time later, both the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief wine steward and the chief baker, 3and he put them under arrest with the commander of the royal guard in the same jail where Joseph was imprisoned. 4The commander of the royal guard assigned Joseph to assist them. After they had been under arrest for some time, 5both of them—the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king who were imprisoned in the jail—had dreams one night, and each man’s dream had its own meaning. 6When Joseph met them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. 7He asked the officers of Pharaoh who were under arrest with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so distressed today?”
8They answered, “We’ve both had dreams, but there’s no one to interpret them.”
Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Describe your dreams to me.”
9The chief wine steward described his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine right in front of me, 10and on the vine were three branches. When it budded, its blossoms appeared, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12Joseph said to him, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three branches are three days. 13After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and return you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just the way things were before when you were his wine steward. 14But please, remember me when you are doing well and be loyal to me. Put in a good word for me to Pharaoh, so he sets me free from this prison. 15I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I’ve done nothing to be thrown into this dungeon.”
16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “It was the same for me. In my dream, there were three baskets of white bread#40.16 Heb uncertain on my head. 17In the basket on top there were baked goods for Pharaoh’s food, but birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18Joseph responded, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three baskets are three days. 19After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and will hang you from a tree where birds will peck your flesh from you.”
20The third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a party for all of his servants. Before all of his servants, he gave an audience to the chief wine steward and the chief baker. 21He returned the chief wine steward to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22But the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had said would happen when he interpreted their dreams for them. 23But the chief wine steward didn’t remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.
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Genesis 40: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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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