1
Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.
2
Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
3
and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.
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,
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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.
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When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.
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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?”
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“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.”
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So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,
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and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.
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Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”
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Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.”
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Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.
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Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree.(a) Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”
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.
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Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.
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But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.(b)
23
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.
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