³ And Joseph said to his brothers, ^(A)“I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, ^(B)whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ^(C)for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are ^(D)yet five years in which there will be neither ^(E)plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ^(F)ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ^10 (G)You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ^11 (H)There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ ¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is ^(I)my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and ^(J)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

^14 (A)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ^15 (B)Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ^16 (C)Live in harmony with one another. ^(D)Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.^{[a] (E)}Never be wise in your own sight. ^17 (F)Repay no one evil for evil, but ^(G)give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^(H)live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, ^(I)never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[b] to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^(J)“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, ^(K)“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(A)Love your enemies, ^(B)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (C)bless those who curse you, ^(D)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (E)To one who ^(F)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[a] either. ^30 (G)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(H)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (I)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(J)if you ^(K)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(L)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(M)you will be sons of ^(N)the Most High, for ^(O)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (P)Be merciful, even as ^(Q)your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

^37 (R)(S)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^(T)forgive, and you will be forgiven; ^38 (U)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put ^(V)into your lap. For ^(W)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”