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 the official in charge of the palace guard,#40.4 the palace guard: Possibly Potiphar (see 39.1). 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, 19#3 Macc 6.34. and 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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Genesis 40: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Genesis 40
40
1Later on the cupbearer and the baker committed some offense against their master, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with these two royal officials—the chief cupbearer and chief baker— 3and imprisoned them in the house of the commander of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was. 4The commander of the guard assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant. They were kept in prison for some time.
5One night while they were in prison the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt each had a dream. They were different dreams, each with its own meaning. 6When Joseph arrived the next morning he noticed they both looked depressed. 7So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were imprisoned with him in his master's house, “Why are you looking so depressed?”
8“We've both had dreams but can't find anyone to explain what they mean,” they said.
So Joseph told them, “Isn't God the one who can interpret the meaning of dreams? Tell me your dreams.”
9So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. “In my dream there was a vine right in front of me,” he explained. 10“The vine had three branches. As soon as it budded, it flowered, and produced clusters of ripe grapes. 11I was holding Pharaoh's wine cup, so I picked the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to Pharaoh.”
12“This is the meaning,” Joseph told him. “The three branches represent three days. 13In three days' time Pharaoh will take you out of prison and give you back your job, and you will hand Pharaoh his cup as you used to. 14But when things go well for you, please remember me with kindness and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf, and please get me out of this prison. 15I was cruelly kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and now I'm here in this pit even though I've done nothing wrong.”
16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. I had three baskets of cakes on my head. 17In the top basket were all the cakes and pastries for Pharaoh to eat, and the birds were eating them from the basket on my head.”
18“This is the meaning,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets represent three days. 19In three days' time Pharaoh will take you out of prison and hang you on a pole, and birds will eat your flesh.”
20Three days later it happened to be Pharaoh's birthday, and he arranged a banquet for all his officials. He had the chief cupbearer and the chief baker released from prison and brought there before his officials. 21He gave the chief cupbearer his job back, and he returned to his duties of handing Pharaoh his cup. 22But he hanged the chief baker just as Joseph had said when he interpreted their dreams. 23But the chief cupbearer didn't remember to say anything about Joseph—in fact he forgot all about him.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com