⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.^{(A) 5} And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.^{(B) 6} For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.^{[a] 8} Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

²⁸ We know that all things work together^[a] for the good^[b] of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.^(A)

⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

⁷ Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline—which all receive^[b]—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.^{(B) 9} Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?^{(C) 10} For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness.^{(D) 11} No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit^(E) of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.^(F)