So he said no. This made Potiphar's wife angry and she thought up a way to make Joseph pay for not doing what she asked. One day only she and Joseph were in the house. She again asked Joseph to lie with her. He refused and ran out the house, leaving his garment in her hand. She screamed, when other servants came she told them that Joseph had tried to lie with her, and that she screamed and Joseph fled. This was a lie, but because of this lie Joseph was thrown into prison.... In prison Joseph was placed in charge of other prisoners. God was still with Joseph and blessed everything that he did.

Even though Joseph was in Pharaoh's prison because Potiphar's wife told lies about him, Joseph continued to work hard and do his best in every job he was given. Before long he was placed in charge of all the other prisoners...One day the Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker displeased him and he had them thrown into prison. The captain of the guards told Joseph to take care of them. So Joseph found them somewhere to sleep. They remained in prison for some time. ..... Then one night both the chief butler and chief baker had strange dreams. When Joseph saw them the next morning they both looked troubled. He asked them why they were so troubled and they told him they had dreamed strange dreams last night, and that there was nobody around to tell them their meaning. Joseph replied, saying, "Do not all explanations come from God?" Then he asked them to tell him their dreams.

The chief butler went first. In his dream he dreamed of a grape vine, with three branches. The vine got flowers on it, then fruit which ripened quickly. Pharaoh's cup was in his hand, so he took some of the grapes and squeezed the juice into Pharaoh's cup and served it to Pharaoh, just like he used to. Joseph told him that the three branches were 3 days. In three days he would be released from prison and again work for Pharaoh. Joseph asked the chief butler to remember him when he was released, and to mention his plight to Pharaoh as he had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be in prison.

The chief baker thought that sounded nice, so he also told Joseph his dream. In his dream there were three white baskets on his head. In the top basket were all sorts of sweet breads for Pharaoh. But the birds came and ate the bread from out of the basket. Joseph told him that the three baskets were also three days. In three days Pharaoh would chop off his head and hang him on a tree or cross, and the birds would come and eat his flesh.

Three days later it was Pharaoh's birthday. He made a great feast for all his servants. At this feast Pharaoh gave back the chief butler his job, but the chief baker he hanged. All turned out just as Joseph told them it would. Yet the chief butler forgot to tell Pharaoh about Joseph..... Two years later Pharaoh had two dreams. He dreamt that he was by the river Nile and seven fat cows came up out of the river. Then seven lean and hungry cows came up out of the river. They ate the fat cows, but were still lean and hungry. Then he woke up. After a while he drifted off to sleep and dream again. This time he saw seven good ears of corn. All of a sudden, seven thin ears of corn sprang up from the east wind. The seven thin ears of corn ate up the seven fat ears of corn. Then Pharaoh awoke.

These dreams troubled Pharaoh so he asked his wise men to tell him their meaning, but none could. The chief butler remembered Joseph. He told Pharaoh all about himAnd how Joseph had told the meaning of the chief baker's and his dream, and how it all turned out exactly how he told them it would. Pharaoh sent for Joseph to be brought before him. Quickly Joseph got cleaned up, had a shave, changed his clothes and stood before Pharaoh. Pharaoh told Joseph that he had dreamed a dream and that nobody in his court could tell him the meaning, and asked if Joseph could tell him the meaning of his dream. Joseph said that he couldn't, but God would give Pharaoh the answer to his dream.

Pharaoh then told Joseph the dream. Joseph told Pharaoh that both dreams had the same meaning. The seven fat cows and the seven good ears of corn represented 7 years of plenty. The seven thin and hungry cows and the seven thin ears of corn represent 7 years of famine that will come after the seven years of plenty. The years of plenty will be forgotten because of the seven years of famine. Joseph told Pharaoh that God had sent him this dream to warn him of the coming famine so that he could prepare for it. He also told Pharaoh that he should choose a wise man to set up big store houses and in the next seven years of plenty store up food and grain for the seven years of drought that were to follow.

Pharaoh was pleased with Joseph's meaning of the dream, and his advise to store food up for the famine. He could see that the Spirit of God was with Joseph, so he made Joseph second ruler in Egypt. Pharaoh, himself, was now the only one greater than Joseph in all Egypt. He was now the one who had to prepare this country for the seven years of sever famine.

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