40 Sometime after that the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker sinned against their master, also known as Far’oh. 2 Far’oh was angry at those two officials 3 and he put them in the custody of the chief of the guards—in the prison where Yosef was also being held. 4 There the chief of the guards assigned Yosef to serve them.

After they’d been in custody for quite some time, 5 the king’s cupbearer and baker in prison each had separate dreams on the same night, and each man’s dream had its own interpretation. 6 The next morning, Yosef came to them, and wow, they were worried, 7 so he asked the two former officials of Far’oh, “Why are you looking so upset today?”

8 “We each had a dream last night,” they answered, “but there’s no one here who can tell us what our dreams mean.”

“God is the only one who gives someone the ability to interpret the meaning of dreams,” Yosef replied. “Please tell me what you dreamed.”

9 Then the chief of the cupbearers went first and told his dream to Yosef, “Listen, in my dream there was a grapevine in front of me 10 with three branches on it. Then as soon as the buds appeared on the branches, its blossoms came out straight away and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Then I was holding Far’oh’s cup and I took the grapes and squeezed them into it and I gave the cup to Far’oh.”

12 “This is the interpretation,” Yosef responded. “The three branches represent three days. 13 Within three days, Far’oh will display you publicly and then restore you to your position. Then you’ll place Far’oh’s cup into his hand, just like you used to before when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when it all goes well for you, if you remember me then please be kind and mention me to Far’oh to get me out of this prison, 15 because indeed I was trafficked from the land of the Hebrews. And even here, I didn’t do anything to deserve being held in this pit.”

16 Now when the chief of the bakers saw that this first dream was interpreted so favourably, he told Yosef, “I also was in my dream, and listen, there were three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 In the top basket there were various kinds of food for Far’oh—baker’s goods—but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 “This is the interpretation,” Yosef responded. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days, Far’oh will display you publicly and then impale you on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh off your bones.”

20 Then three days later, it was Far’oh’s birthday and he held a feast for all his officials and he got the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers brought in to stand publicly in the middle of everyone. 21 Then he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his position, and the man carried the cup across to Far’oh, 22 but he had the chief of the bakers executed, just like Yosef had described in the interpretation of the dream. 23 However, the chief of the cupbearers completely forgot about Yosef.