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 Explains Two Dreams
1Later, two of Pharaoh’s servants did something wrong to Pharaoh. These servants were the baker and the man who served wine to Pharaoh. 2Pharaoh became angry with his baker and wine server, 3so he put them in the same prison as Joseph. Potiphar, the commander of Pharaoh’s guards, was in charge of this prison. 4The commander put the two prisoners under Joseph’s care. The two men continued to stay in prison for some time. 5One night both of the prisoners had a dream. The baker and the wine server each had his own dream, and each dream had its own meaning. 6Joseph went to them the next morning and saw that the two men were worried. 7He asked them, “Why do you look so worried today?”
8The two men answered, “We both had dreams last night, but we don’t understand what we dreamed. There is no one to explain the dreams to us.”
Joseph said to them, “God is the only one who can understand and explain dreams. So I beg you, tell me your dreams.”
The Wine Server’s Dream
9So the wine server told Joseph his dream. The server said, “I dreamed I saw a vine. 10On the vine there were three branches. I watched the branches grow flowers and then become grapes. 11I was holding Pharaoh’s cup, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I gave the cup to Pharaoh.”
12Then Joseph said, “I will explain the dream to you. The three branches mean three days. 13Before the end of three days, Pharaoh will forgive you and allow you to go back to your work. You will do the same work for Pharaoh as you did before. 14But when you are free, remember me. Be good to me and help me. Tell Pharaoh about me so that I can get out of this prison. 15I was kidnapped and taken from the land of my people, the Hebrews. I have done nothing wrong! I should not be in prison.”
The Baker’s Dream
16The baker saw that the other servant’s dream was good, so he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. I dreamed there were three baskets of bread on my head. 17In the top basket there were all kinds of baked food for the king, but birds were eating this food.”
18Joseph answered, “I will tell you what the dream means. The three baskets mean three days. 19Before the end of three days, the king will take you out of this prison and cut off your head! He will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat it.”
Joseph Is Forgotten
20Three days later it was Pharaoh’s birthday. He gave a party for all his servants. At the party Pharaoh allowed the wine server and the baker to leave the prison. 21He freed the wine server and gave him his job back, and once again the wine server put a cup of wine in Pharaoh’s hand. 22But Pharaoh hanged the baker, and everything happened the way Joseph said it would. 23But the wine server did not remember to help Joseph. He said nothing about him to Pharaoh. The wine server forgot about Joseph.
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