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40
Joseph understood 2 men’s dreams
1-2 Some time later, Joseph was still in jail in Egypt country. The big boss of Egypt country was called Pharaoh, and he had lots of men that worked for him. This story is about 2 of those men.
The 1st man was Pharaoh’s wine-boss. He used to make wine and other special drinks for Pharaoh. The 2nd man was Pharaoh’s bread-boss. He used to cook bread and cakes for Pharaoh to eat. Both of those men were important workers in Pharaoh’s house.
One day, that wine-boss and that bread-boss, they both did something that made Pharaoh really angry. 3 So Pharaoh put those 2 men in jail. That jail was the same one that Joseph was in. The soldier that guarded that jail, he was in charge of all the soldiers that looked after Pharaoh’s house. 4 That soldier said to Joseph, “You have to look after these 2 men.” So Joseph looked after that wine-boss and that bread-boss. And those 2 men stayed in jail for a long time.
5 One night, that wine-boss and that bread-boss, they were both sleeping in the jail, and they both had dreams. Both those dreams showed things that will happen later on. But those 2 men didn’t understand what those dreams meant. So they felt sad and worried.
6 The next morning, Joseph went to those 2 men, like he always did. He looked at their faces, and he saw that they were sad and worried. 7 So he said to them, “Why are you so sad and worried today?”
8 Then those 2 men said to Joseph, “We both had dreams last night, but we don’t understand what those dreams mean, and there is nobody here that can tell us what they mean.”
Joseph said, “Only God can tell people what dreams mean. Please tell me about your dreams. God will show me what they mean.”
9 So the wine-boss told Joseph about his dream. He said, “In my dream, I saw a grape vine. 10 That grape vine had 3 branches. Little flowers started to grow on those branches, then straight away, those flowers got big, and grapes grew from them, then those grapes got big. 11 I had Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. So I took those grapes, and I squeezed the juice into Pharaoh’s cup. Then I gave that cup of juice to Pharaoh.”
12 Then Joseph said to the wine-boss, “All right, I will tell you what that dream means. Those 3 branches that you saw, they are like a picture of 3 days. 13 In 3 days time, Pharaoh will take you out of this jail, and he will get you to work for him again. You will make wine and other special drinks, just like you did before, and you will take those drinks and give them to Pharaoh.”
14 Then Joseph said to the wine-boss, “Now you know that everything will go well for you. So please be good to me, and don’t forget about me. Please talk to Pharaoh, and say good things about me. Then maybe Pharaoh will take me out of this jail, and he will let me go free. 15 You know, I am from the Hebrew tribe, and I used to live with my people, in my home country. But then some men grabbed me, and they took me away from my home country, and they brought me here to Egypt country. And now I’m in jail, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”
16 The wine-boss listened to all those things that Joseph said, and the bread-boss listened too. That bread-boss thought, “That other man’s dream meant something good, so maybe my dream means something good too.”
So the bread-boss talked to Joseph, and he said, “I had a dream too. In my dream, there were 3 baskets of special bread on my head. 17 The basket that was on top, it had all sorts of bread and cakes in it, and they were for Pharaoh to eat. But some birds were there, and they ate the bread and cakes that were in that basket.”
18 Then Joseph said, “I will tell you what that dream means. Those 3 baskets that you saw, they are like a picture of 3 days. 19 In 3 days time, Pharaoh will take you out of this jail, and his soldiers will cut off your head. Then they will hang your body on a pole, and birds will come and eat bits of your body.”
20 3 days later, it was Pharaoh’s birthday. So Pharaoh had a big party, with lots of good food, and he got all his important workers to come to that party. And Pharaoh got his soldiers to go and get that wine-boss and that bread-boss out of the jail. 21 Then Pharaoh got that wine-boss to work for him again. He made wine and other special drinks, just like he did before, and he took those drinks and gave them to Pharaoh. 22 But Pharaoh got his soldiers to kill that bread-boss, and they hung his body on a pole. All those things happened just the way Joseph said.
23 But that wine-boss forgot about Joseph, and he didn’t talk to Pharaoh about him.

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