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Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Genesis 40


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1Some time afterward, the royal cupbearer and baker gave offense to their lord, the king of Egypt.2Pharaoh was angry with his two courtiers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,3and he put them in custody in the house of the chief steward (the same jail where Joseph was confined).4The chief steward assigned Joseph to them, and he became their attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,5the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the jail both had dreams on the same night, each dream with its own meaning.6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he noticed that they looked disturbed.7So he asked Pharaoh's courtiers who were with him in custody in his master's house, "Why do you look so sad today?"8They answered him, "We have had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them for us." Joseph said to them, "Surely, interpretations come from God. Please tell the dreams to me."9Then the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. "In my dream," he said, "I saw a vine in front of me,10and on the vine were three branches. It had barely budded when its blossoms came out, and its clusters ripened into grapes.11Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes, pressed them out into his cup, and put it in Pharaoh's hand."12Joseph said to him: "This is what it means. The three branches are three days;13within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your post. You will be handing Pharaoh his cup as you formerly used to do when you were his cupbearer.14So if you will still remember, when all is well with you, that I was here with you, please do me the favor of mentioning me to Pharaoh, to get me out of this place.15The truth is that I was kidnaped from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have not done anything for which I should have been put into a dungeon."16When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given this favorable interpretation, he said to him: "I too had a dream. In it I had three wicker baskets on my head;17in the top one were all kinds of bakery products for Pharaoh, but the birds were pecking at them out of the basket on my head."18Joseph said to him in reply: "This is what it means. The three baskets are three days;19within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and have you impaled on a stake, and the birds will be pecking the flesh from your body."20And in fact, on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, when he gave a banquet to all his staff, with his courtiers around him, he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and chief baker.21He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, so that he again handed the cup to Pharaoh;22but the chief baker he impaled-just as Joseph had told them in his interpretation.23Yet the chief cupbearer gave no thought to Joseph; he had forgotten him.