Joseph Forgives His Brothers

¹⁵ Joseph’s brothers realized what their father’s death could mean. So they thought, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us? What if he decides to pay us back for all the evil we did to him?” ¹⁶ They sent a messenger to Joseph to say, “Before your father died, he commanded us, ¹⁷ ‘This is what you should say to Joseph, “I’m begging you to forgive the crime and the sin your brothers committed against you. What they did to you was very evil.” ’ So now, please forgive our crime, because we are servants of your father’s God.” Joseph cried when he got their message.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and immediately bowed down in front of him. “We are your slaves!” they said.

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I can’t take God’s place. ²⁰ Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now. ²¹ Don’t be afraid! I will provide for you and your children.” In this way he reassured them, setting their minds at ease.

⁸ Although you have never seen Christ, you love him. You don’t see him now, but you believe in him. You are extremely happy with joy and praise that can hardly be expressed in words ⁹ as you obtain the salvation that is the goal of your faith.

¹⁰ The prophets carefully researched and investigated this salvation. Long ago they spoke about God’s kindness ^[a] that would come to you. ¹¹ So they tried to find out what time or situation the Spirit of Christ kept referring to whenever he predicted Christ’s sufferings and the glory that would follow.