Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Study Note
Study Note
Joseph's declaration to his brothers — 'you intended evil against me, but God intended it for good' — is the theological climax of the Joseph narrative. The Hebrew uses the same verb (hashav, 'to reckon/plan') for both human and divine intention, affirming that identical events can carry two simultaneous intentions. This is one of the clearest articulations of divine providence in the Old Testament: God works through human evil without being its author. The verse resonates with the New Testament reading of the cross — the greatest human injustice reframed as the supreme divine act of salvation.
Other Translations
And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
As for you, ye devised against me evil--God devised it for good, in order to do as <FI>at<Fi> this day, to keep alive a numerous people;
As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today.
Cross References
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could …
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay …
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil …
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before …
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to …
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.