Genesis 40 — AAB

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40Verse 1Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.^{Verse 2}Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,^{Verse 3}and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.^{Verse 4}The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant.
After they had been in custody for some time,^{Verse 5}both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.^{Verse 6}When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.^{Verse 7}So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”^{Verse 8}“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”^{Verse 9}So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,^{Verse 10}and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.^{Verse 11}Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”^{Verse 12}Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.^{Verse 13}Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.^{Verse 14}But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.^{Verse 15}For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”^{Verse 16}When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head.^{Verse 17}In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”^{Verse 18}Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.^{Verse 19}Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree.⁺Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”^{Verse 20}On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.^{Verse 21}Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.^{Verse 22}But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.^{+Verse 23}The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.