Joseph Deals Kindly with His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there ^[a]was no one with him ^(A)when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² Then ^(B)he ^[b]wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “^(C)I am Joseph! ^(D)Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for ^(E)they were terrified in his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ^[c]closer to me.” And they came ^[d]closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you ^(F)sold to Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be grieved or angry ^[e]with yourselves because ^(G)you sold me here, for ^(H)God sent me ahead of you ^[f]to save lives. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land ^(I)these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ So ^(J)God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to ^[g]keep you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸ Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a ^(K)father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father, and ^(L)say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰ For you shall live in the land of ^(M)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your ^[h]grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will also ^(N)provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. ¹³ Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and ^(O)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and ^(P)wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ Now when ^(Q)the ^[i]news was heard in Pharaoh’s house ^[j]that Joseph’s brothers had come, it ^[k]pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and ^[l]go to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me; and ^(R)I will give you the ^[m]best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: ^[n]take ^(S)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ²⁰ And do not ^[o]concern yourselves with your property, for the ^[p]best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them ^(T)wagons according to the ^[q]command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To ^[r]each of them he gave ^(U)changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and ^(V)five changes of garments. ²³ And to his father he sent ^[s]the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the ^[t]best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father ^[u]on the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and ^[v]as they departed, he said to them, “Do not ^[w]quarrel on the journey.” ²⁵ Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But ^[x]he was stunned, for ^(W)he did not believe them. ²⁷ When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the ^(X)wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Wickedness of Humanity and Goodness of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

Death and Resurrection Foretold

^30 (A)And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^(B)The Son of Man is to be ^[a]handed over to men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” ³² But ^(C)they ^[b]did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33 (D)They came to Capernaum; and when He was in ^(E)the house, He began to question them: “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(F)they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^(G)If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “^(H)Whoever ^[c]receives ^[d]one child like this in My name ^[e]receives Me; and whoever ^[f]receives Me does not ^[g]receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

^38 (I)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(J)we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (K)For the one who is not against us is ^[h]for us. ⁴¹ For ^(L)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink ^[i]because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

⁴² “^(M)Whoever causes one of these ^[j]little ones who believe in Me to ^[k]sin, it is better for him if a heavy millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[l]is thrown into the sea. ⁴³ And ^(N)if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[m](O)hell, into the ^(P)unquenchable fire.^{[n] 45} And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into ^[o](Q)hell.^{[p] 47} And ^(R)if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into ^[q](S)hell, ^48 (T)where their worm does not die, and ^(U)the fire is not extinguished. ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but ^(V)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ^[r]make it salty again? ^(W)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(X)be at peace with one another.”