The Cupbearer and the Baker
1. Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.
2. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
3. and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in 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,
5. each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.
6. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they looked distraught.
7. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8. “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
9. So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph. “In my dream,” he said, “there was a vine before me,
10. and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”
12. “This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.
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.
14. But when all goes well with you, remember that I was with you. Please show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison.
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.”
16. When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.
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.”
18. “This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days.
19. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”
20. On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:
21. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand—
22. but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.