⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.”^(A) When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!^{(B) 5} And now, do not be distressed^(C) and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,^(D) because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.^{(E) 6} For two years now there has been famine^(F) in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant^(G) on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.^[a](H)

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.^(I) He made me father^(J) to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.^(K)

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?^{(A) 20} You intended to harm me,^(B) but God intended^(C) it for good^(D) to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.^(E)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good^(A) of those who love him, who^[a] have been called^(B) according to his purpose.^(C)