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.’

²¹ The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them ^(A)wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each and all of them he gave ^(B)a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[a] of silver and ^(C)five changes of clothes. ²³ To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ^(D)“Do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw ^(E)the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

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.