1It happened later that the king's butler and his baker offended their master the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with these two eunuchs, the chief butler and the chief baker, 3and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the Round Tower where Joseph was imprisoned. 4The captain of the guard appointed Joseph as their attendant, and he waited on them. 5One night, when they had been in prison for some time, they both had dreams, each needing its own interpretation—the king of Egypt's butler and his baker who were imprisoned in the Round Tower. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked dejected. 7So he asked these eunuchs, who were in custody with him in his master's house, why they were so downcast that day. 8They replied, 'We have each had a dream and there is no one to interpret it for us.' Joseph said to them, 'Does not interpretation belong to God? Tell me your dreams.' 9So the chief butler told Joseph his dream: 'In my dream', he said, 'there was a vine in front of me. 10On the vine there were three branches, and as soon as it budded, it blossomed and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11Now I had Pharaoh's cup in my hand, and I plucked the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup into Pharaoh's hand.' 12Joseph said to him, 'This is the interpretation. The three branches are three days: 13within three days Pharaoh will raise you and restore you to your post, and then you will put the cup into Pharaoh's hand as you used to do when you were his butler. 14But when things go well with you, if you think of me, keep faith with me and bring my case to Pharaoh's notice and help me to get out of this house. 15By force I was carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing here to deserve being put in this dungeon.'
16When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favourable interpretation, he said to him, 'I too had a dream, and in my dream there were three baskets of white bread on my head. 17In the top basket there was every kind of food which the baker prepares for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating out of the top basket on my head.' 18Joseph answered, 'This is the interpretation. The three baskets are three days: 19within three days Pharaoh will raise you and hang you up on a tree, and the birds of the air will eat your flesh.'
20The third day was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a feast for all his servants. He raised the chief butler and the chief baker in the presence of his court. 21He restored the chief butler to his post, and the butler put the cup into Pharaoh's hand; 22but he hanged the chief baker. All went as Joseph had said in interpreting the dreams for them. 23Even so the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
| << | Gn:40 | >> |
|---|