40
Joseph helped 2 prisoners understand their dreams
1-3 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had 2 special workers. One man was the baker who made the king's bread and the other man gave the king his wine in a special cup. But one day the king got really angry with both of them, and put them in the same jail that Joseph was in. 4 The jail boss gave them to Joseph and he looked after them. And they stayed in jail for a long time. 5 One night both the baker and the man who gave the king his wine, had dreams. Their dreams were different and had different meanings. 6 In the morning Joseph saw that they were upset. 7 So he said to them, “Why do you look so unhappy today?”
8 The men answered, “We both had dreams last night, but no-one can tell us what they mean.”
Joseph said, “God is the only one who can tell people all about dreams.+ Tell me what you saw, and God will tell me what they mean.”
9-10 The man who gave the king his wine told Joseph his dream first. He said, “In my dream I saw a grape vine and it had 3 branches. I watched the branches grow flowers and then grapes grew from those flowers. They looked ready to eat. 11 And I saw that I was holding the king's cup, so I grabbed the grapes and squeezed them so that the juice ran into the cup. Then I gave the cup to the king.”
12 Joseph said to him, “This is what your dream means. The 3 branches are a picture for 3 days. 13 And so, in 3 days time, the king will make you free from this jail and he will let you go back to your work. You will give the king his wine just like you did before.” 14 Then Joseph said, “Will you do something for me? When you are free, can you be kind to me and remember to tell the king my story? I just want to get out of this jail. 15 I was stolen from my Hebrew homeland, I was sold as a slave and then later on, I was put in jail. I have done nothing wrong.”
16 The king's baker listened to what Joseph said and he was happy with what he heard. So he said to Joseph, “I had a dream too. I saw that I had 3 baskets of bread on top of my head. 17 In the top basket there were all sorts of bread that the king likes to eat, but birds came and started to eat that bread.”
18 Joseph said to him, “The 3 baskets are a picture for 3 days, 19 and so, in 3 days time, the king will cut off your head and hang your body on a tree. The birds will come and eat your body.”
20 Three days later, it was the king's birthday and so he gave a big party for all the leaders that worked for him. He sent someone to the jail to get the baker and the man that gave him his wine. 21 The man who gave the king his wine got his job back, 22 but the baker was killed and his body was hung up on a tree. Everything Joseph said about the dreams, came true.
23 But the man who gave the king his wine did not remember his promise to Joseph. He forgot all about him.
+ 40:8 Genesis 41:16; Daniel 2:28; 4:8-9