Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his
baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt.
And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer
and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the
captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The
captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he
attended them. They continued for some time in custody.
And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of
the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own
dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came
to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked
Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's
house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” They said to him, “We
have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph
said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell
them to me.”
So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him,
“In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were
three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and
the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and
I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed
the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is its
interpretation: the three branches are three days. In three days
Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and
you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you
were his cupbearer. Only remember me, when it is well with you, and
please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me
out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the
Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me
into the pit.”
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable,
he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake
baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all
sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out
of the basket on my head.” And Joseph answered and said, “This is
its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. In three days
Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree.
And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast
for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer
and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the
chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's
hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to
them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot
him.
