Forgiveness
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He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ~"Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. So they sent {a message} to Joseph, saying, "Your father charged before he died, saying, `Thus you shall say to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? ~"So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. ~"Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but {my eye} had pity on you; and I said, `I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.' ~"Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. ~"May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. Or the LORD will see {it} and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you. ~"If anyone wants to sue you and take your (Lit {tunic;} i.e. a garment worn next to the body) shirt, let him have your (Lit {cloak;} i.e. an outer garment) coat also. ~"Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ~"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on {the} evil and {the} good, and sends rain on {the} righteous and {the} unrighteous. ~"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ~"If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing {than others?} Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ~"But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Jesus *said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ~"When he had begun to settle {them,} one who owed him (A talent was worth more than fifteen years' wages of a laborer) ten thousand talents was brought to him. ~"But since he did not have {the means} to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ~"And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. ~"But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred (The denarius was a day's wages) denarii; and he seized him and {began} to choke {him,} saying, `Pay back what you owe.' ~"So his fellow slave fell {to the ground} and {began} to plead with him, saying, `Have patience with me and I will repay you.' ~"But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. ~"Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, `You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ~`Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' ~"And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ~"My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." [~"(Early mss do not contain this v) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ~"Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. ~"Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ~"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. ~"If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is {that} to you? For even sinners do the same. ~"If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is {that} to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same {amount.} ~"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil {men.} ~"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ~"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, {and} running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." ~"And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, `I repent,' forgive him." "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. I have sent him back to you in person, that is, {sending} my very heart, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
This topic is from the BibleSteak Team. |