40:1 And after these things the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the baker¹ offended² their master the king of Egypt. 40:2 And Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials,³ the cupbearer and the baker; 40:3 so he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guards,⁴ in the prison where Joseph was bound. 40:4 And the captain of the guard appointed Joseph to them, and he served them.⁵

They spent some time in custody.⁶ 40:5 And the two of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king who were bound in the prison, had a dream,⁷ each of them having his dream in the same night,⁸ each man’s dream having its own interpretation.⁹ 40:6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw them, that they were looking ill.¹⁰ 40:7 So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were with him in custody in the house of his master, “Why do you look so bad today?”¹¹ 40:8 And they said to him, “We had dreams¹² but there is no interpreter for them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them¹³ to me.”

40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and he said to him, “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me, 40:10 and on the vine there were three branches. And as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 40:11 Now the cup of Pharaoh was in my hand, and so I took the grapes, squeezed them into the cup of Pharaoh, and I put the cup into his hand.”¹⁴

40:12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: The three branches represent¹⁵ three days. 40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head¹⁶ and restore you to your office, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, according to your former custom¹⁷ when you were cupbearer. 40:14 But remember me¹⁸ with you when it goes well for you, and show¹⁹ me kindness,²⁰ and make mention²¹ of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison²² house, 40:15 for I was indeed stolen away²³ from the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me in a dungeon.”

40:16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably,²⁴ he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three baskets of white²⁵ bread on my head. 40:17 And in the uppermost basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

40:18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent²⁶ three days. 40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you²⁷ and will impale you on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

40:20 And on the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants. 40:21 He restored²⁸ the chief cupbearer to his service,²⁹ so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, 40:22 but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had interpreted for them.³⁰ 40:23 But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph—he forgot him.