⁵ And now, do not be distressed^(A) and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,^(B) because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.^{(C) 6} For two years now there has been famine^(D) 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^(E) on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.^[a](F)

²⁰ You intended to harm me,^(A) but God intended^(B) it for good^(C) to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.^(D)

Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^[a] that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.