The Cupbearer and the Baker
Two of Pharaoh's officials dream in the same prison cell. Joseph, saying interpretation belongs to our Father, reads both honestly: the cupbearer lives, the baker hangs. He asks only to be remembered. He isn't — the chapter ends on the cupbearer forgetting him entirely.
40 1After these things, the king of Egypt's cupbearer and baker sinned against their lord, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 3He put them in custody in the guard captain's house, the prison where Joseph was held. 4The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to serve them; they remained in custody for some days. 5Then both of them, the cupbearer and baker of Egypt's king, imprisoned in the prison, each dreamed a dream in one night, each dream with its own meaning. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7He asked Pharaoh's officials with him in custody in his master's house, "Why do you look downcast today?"
8They told him, "We each had a dream, with no one to interpret it." Joseph replied, "Don't interpretations belong to our Father? Please tell them to me." a a v8 Joseph names our Father as the source of every true interpretation — even to Egyptians who do not know him.
9The chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: "In my dream a vine stood before me. 10The vine had three branches; as it sprouted, its blossoms opened, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
12Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head, restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, as before, when you were his cupbearer. 14But remember me when it's well with you; please do me kindness—mention me to Pharaoh, so he may bring me out of this house. 15For I was indeed kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I've done nothing to deserve this dungeon."
16Seeing the interpretation was good, the chief baker said to Joseph, "I too had a dream: three baskets of white bread on my head. 17The top basket held all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but birds were eating them from the basket on my head."
18Joseph replied, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19In three days Pharaoh will lift your head off you and hang you on a tree—birds will eat the flesh off you. 20On the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, he gave a feast for all his officials, and lifted the head of his chief cupbearer and the head of his chief baker among them," 21restoring the chief cupbearer to his position, so he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22But he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph—he forgot him.
