Chapter 40
Sometime later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Mitzramah gave offense to their lord the king of Mitzramah. Paroh was angry with his two courtiers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody, in the house of the chief steward, in the same prison house where Yehoseph was confined. The chief steward assigned Yehoseph to them, and he attended them.
When they had been in custody for some time, both of them—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Mitzramah, who were confined in the prison—dreamed in the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. When Yehoseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. He asked Paroh’s courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you appear downcast today?” And they said to him, “We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” So Yehoseph said to them, “Surely Elohim can interpret! Tell me your dreams.”
Then the chief cupbearer told his dream to Yehoseph. He said to him, “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. On the vine were three branches. It had barely budded, when out came its blossoms and its clusters ripened into grapes. Paroh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, pressed them into Paroh’s cup, and placed the cup in Paroh’s hand.” Yehoseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: The three branches are three days. In three days Paroh will pardon you and restore you to your post; you will place Paroh’s cup in his hand, as was your custom formerly, when you were his cupbearer. But think of me when all is well with you again, and do me the kindness of mentioning me to Paroh, so as to free me from this place. For in truth: I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews; nor have I done anything here that they should have put me in the dungeon.”
When the chief baker saw how favorably he had interpreted, he said to Yehoseph, “In my dream, similarly, there were three openwork baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of food for Paroh that a baker prepares, and the birds were eating it out of the basket above my head.” Yehoseph answered, “This is its interpretation: The three baskets are three days. In three days Paroh will lift off your head and impale you upon a pole, and the birds will pick off your flesh.”
On the third day—his birthday—Paroh made a banquet for all his officials, and he singled out his chief cupbearer and his chief baker from among his officials. He restored the chief cupbearer to his cup bearing, and he placed the cup in Paroh’s hand; but the chief baker he impaled—just as Yehoseph had interpreted to them.
Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Yehoseph, he forgot him.
THE WORD OF ELOHIM
