Genesis 40

EasyEnglish Bible

Joseph tells two people what their dreams mean

40 Some time later, two of the king's officers made him angry. One of them was the king's cupbearer.^[a] The other was the king's baker.

² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, both the cupbearer and the baker. ³ Pharaoh put them in the same prison that Joseph was in. That was in the house of the captain of the king's guards. ⁴ They were in the prison for a long time. The captain of the guards made Joseph their servant, to help them. ⁵ One night, both of the king's officers had a dream. Each dream had its own meaning.

⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷ So Joseph asked the two officers, ‘What are you sad about?’ ⁸ They replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but there is nobody to tell us what they mean.’ Joseph said, ‘Only God can tell you the meaning of dreams. Tell your dreams to me.’

⁹ So the king's cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ There were three branches on it. New leaves came on the branches, and then flowers came. After that, there were grapes which became ripe. ¹¹ Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and I squeezed them. Then I put the juice into the cup and I gave the cup to Pharaoh.’

¹² Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three branches tell us about three days. ¹³ In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and he will make you his officer again.^[b] You will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, as you did before. ¹⁴ But when these good things happen to you, remember to be kind to me. Tell Pharaoh about me so that I will get out of this prison. ¹⁵ Men took hold of me in the land of the Hebrews and they brought me here. Even here, I have not done anything wrong. I should not be in this prison.’

¹⁶ The king's baker heard what Joseph had said to the cupbearer. He realized that the meaning of the cupbearer's dream was good. So he said to Joseph, ‘This was my dream: I had three baskets of bread on my head. ¹⁷ The top basket contained many different kinds of bread for Pharaoh. But birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’

¹⁸ Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three baskets tell us about three days. ¹⁹ In three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head. He will hang you on a tree. Then birds will eat the meat off your body.’

²⁰ Three days later, it was Pharaoh's birthday. He gave a feast for all his officers. He lifted up the head of the cupbearer and he lifted off the head of the baker! He brought them both out of the prison so that all his officers could see.

²¹ Pharaoh caused the cupbearer to be his own cupbearer again. As a result, the cupbearer put Pharaoh's cup into his hand again, as he did before. ²² But Pharaoh hanged the baker to kill him.

So it all happened in the way that Joseph said it would happen. ²³ But the cupbearer did not think about Joseph at all. He completely forgot about him.