¹⁶ When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come,^(A) Pharaoh and all his officials^(B) were pleased.^{(C) 17} Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals^(D) and return to the land of Canaan,^{(E) 18} and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt^(F) and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’^(G)

¹⁹ “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts^(H) from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. ²⁰ Never mind about your belongings,^(I) because the best of all Egypt^(J) will be yours.’”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts,^(K) as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.^{(L) 22} To each of them he gave new clothing,^(M) but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[a] of silver and five sets of clothes.^{(N) 23} And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys^(O) loaded with the best things^(P) of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey.^{(Q) 24} Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”^(R)

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt^(S) and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.^{(T) 26} They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.”^(U) Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them.^{(V) 27} But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts^(W) Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “I’m convinced!^(X) My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”^(Y)

Marriage at the Resurrection^(A)

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees,^(B) who say there is no resurrection,^(C) came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(D) 20} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection^[a] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(E) or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^{(F) 26} Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[b]?^{(G) 27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment^(H)

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law^(I) came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[c] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[d](J) 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[e](K) There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.^{(L) 33} To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^(M)

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^(N) And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.^(O)