And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”

If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’

For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”

So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

God's Good Purposes

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”

‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?

For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,

Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.