Genesis 40
40
1And it cometh to pass, after these things — the butler of the king of Egypt and the baker have sinned against their lord, against the king of Egypt;
2and Pharaoh is wroth against his two eunuchs, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers,
3and giveth them in charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, unto the round-house, the place where Joseph [is] a prisoner,
4and the chief of the executioners chargeth Joseph with them, and he serveth them; and they are days in charge.
5And they dream a dream both of them, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker whom the king of Egypt hath, who [are] prisoners in the round-house.
6And Joseph cometh in unto them in the morning, and seeth them, and lo, they [are] morose;
7and he asketh Pharaoh's eunuchs who [are] with him in charge in the house of his lord, saying, ‘Wherefore [are] your faces sad to-day?’
8And they say unto him, ‘A dream we have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it;’ and Joseph saith unto them, ‘Are not interpretations with God? recount, I pray you, to me.’
9And the chief of the butlers recounteth his dream to Joseph, and saith to him, ‘In my dream, then lo, a vine [is] before me!
10and in the vine [are] three branches, and it [is] as it were flourishing; gone up hath its blossom, its clusters have ripened grapes;
11and Pharaoh's cup [is] in my hand, and I take the grapes and press them into the cup of Pharaoh, and I give the cup into the hand of Pharaoh.’
12And Joseph saith to him, ‘This [is] its interpretation: the three branches are three days;
13yet, within three days doth Pharaoh lift up thy head, and hath put thee back on thy station, and thou hast given the cup of Pharaoh into his hand, according to the former custom when thou wast his butler.
14‘Surely if thou hast remembered me with thee, when it is well with thee, and hast done (I pray thee) kindness with me, and hast made mention of me unto Pharaoh, then hast thou brought me out from this house,
15for I was really stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here also have I done nothing that they have put me in the pit.’
16And the chief of the bakers seeth that he hath interpreted good, and he saith unto Joseph, ‘I also [am] in a dream, and lo, three baskets of white bread [are] on my head,
17and in the uppermost basket [are] of all [kinds] of Pharaoh's food, work of a baker; and the birds are eating them out of the basket, from off my head.’
18And Joseph answereth and saith, ‘This [is] its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;
19yet, within three days doth Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hath hanged thee on a tree, and the birds have eaten thy flesh from off thee.’
20And it cometh to pass, on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he maketh a banquet to all his servants, and lifteth up the head of the chief of the butlers, and the head of the chief of the bakers among his servants,
21and he putteth back the chief of the butlers to his butlership, and he giveth the cup into the hand of Pharaoh;
22and the chief of the bakers he hath hanged, as Joseph hath interpreted to them;
23and the chief of the butlers hath not remembered Joseph, but forgetteth him.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 40
40
Joseph tells the meaning of the prisoners' dreams
1-3While Joseph was in prison, both the king's#40.1-3 the king's: See the note at 12.15. personal servant#40.1-3 personal servant: The Hebrew text has “cup bearer”, an important and trusted official in the royal court, who personally served wine to the king. and his chief cook made the king angry. So he had them thrown into the same prison with Joseph. 4They spent a long time in prison, and Potiphar, the official in charge of the palace guard, made Joseph their servant.
5One night each of the two men had a dream, but their dreams had different meanings. 6The next morning, when Joseph went to see the men, he could tell they were upset, 7and he asked, “Why are you so worried today?”
8“We each had a dream last night,” they answered, “and there is no one to tell us what they mean.”
Joseph replied, “Doesn't God know the meaning of dreams? Now tell me what you dreamed.”
9The king's personal servant told Joseph, “In my dream I saw a vine 10with three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its grapes became ripe. 11I held the king's cup and squeezed the grapes into it, then I gave the cup to the king.”
12Joseph said:
This is the meaning of your dream. The three branches stand for three days, 13and in three days the king will pardon you. He will make you his personal servant again, and you will serve him his wine, just as you used to do. 14But when these good things happen, please don't forget to tell the king about me, so I can get out of this place. 15I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here in Egypt I haven't done anything to deserve being thrown in jail.
16When the chief cook saw that Joseph had given a good meaning to the dream, he told Joseph, “I also had a dream. In it I was carrying three breadbaskets stacked on top of my head. 17The top basket was full of all kinds of baked things for the king, but birds were eating them.”
18Joseph said:
This is the meaning of your dream. The three baskets are three days, 19and in three days the king will cut off your head. He will hang your body on a pole, and birds will come and peck at it.
20Three days later, while the king was celebrating his birthday with a dinner for his officials, he sent for his personal servant and the chief cook. 21He put the personal servant back in his old job 22and had the cook put to death.
Everything happened just as Joseph had said it would, 23but the king's personal servant completely forgot about Joseph.
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