1As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt.
2Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker,
3and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held.
4The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs. After they had been in custody for a while,
5the king's cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning.
6When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low.
7So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, "What's wrong? Why the long faces?"
8They said, "We dreamed dreams and there's no one to interpret them." Joseph said, "Don't interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams."
9First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine in front of me
10with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes.
11I was holding Pharaoh's cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh."
12Joseph said, "Here's the meaning. The three branches are three days.
13Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you'll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
14Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place.
15I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I've been here, I've done nothing to deserve being put in this hole."
16When the head baker saw how well Joseph's interpretation turned out, he spoke up: "My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head;
17the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head."
18Joseph said, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days;
19within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean."
20And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh's birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests.
21Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before.
22And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph's interpretations exactly.
23But the head cupbearer never gave Joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.