that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rejoice in the hope ahead. Endure under tribulation. Persevere in prayer. Keep on blessing those who persecute; be blessing and do not be cursing. Return evil for evil to no one. Provide fine things in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it depends upon you, be peaceable with all men. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah.’ But, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing this you will heap fiery coals upon his head.’ Do not let yourself be conquered by the evil, but keep conquering the evil with the good.”—Rom. 12:1, 2, 12, 14, 17-21.

10. How can we avoid committing the sin of retaliation?

¹⁰ Acquiring the same mental attitude Jesus had is the only way to avoid committing the serious sin of retaliation. It is a kind of armor that serves as a protection. Peter advised: “Therefore since Christ suffered in the flesh, you too arm yourselves with the same mental disposition; because the person that has suffered in the flesh has desisted from sins.”—1 Pet. 4:1.

11. (a) What happened to Dinah, and why did she get into this trouble? (b) What sin did Simeon and Levi commit in reacting to the abuse of their sister? (c) What resulted to Simeon an Levi because of this retaliation?

¹¹ As we study the Bible, we can learn reasons why this is good counsel for evil days. For example, there is the case of Dinah recorded at Genesis chapter 34. Very unwisely this daughter of Jacob set out to have association with those who were not worshipers of Jehovah God or keepers of God’s law. This led to her being sexually assaulted by a young man named Shechem. Thus evil was done to Dinah. Her father Jacob did not show the spirit of retaliation, but his sons became very angry and made a plan to take vengeance on the people of Shechem. Simeon and Levi killed all the men of the city where their sister Dinah had been violated and were joined by their brothers in plundering the city. Simeon and Levi in particular brought bloodguilt upon themselves, which displeased their father. Later, when Jacob was dying and the time came for him to give his sons blessings, Jacob said this about them: “Simeon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of violence are their slaughter weapons. Into their intimate group do not come, O my soul. With their congregation do not become united, O my disposition, because in their anger they killed men, and in their arbitrariness they hamstrung bulls. Cursed be their anger, because it is cruel, and their fury, because it acts harshly. Let me give them a portion in Jacob, but let me scatter them in Israel.” (Gen. 49:5-7) In the case of Simeon and Levi, returning evil for evil was a sin that brought no good.

12. (a) While Jacob did not speak well of Simeon and Levi, what blessing did Joseph receive from him? (b) What course of life did Joseph pursue to merit such a blessing?

¹² On the other hand, Joseph showed a different spirit and received a blessing from his father: “The blessings of your father will indeed be superior to the blessings of the eternal mountains, to the ornament of the indefinitely lasting hills. They will continue upon the head of Joseph, even upon the crown of the head of the one singled out from his brothers.” (Gen. 49:26) Prior thereto Joseph had been done great evil by his brothers who sold him into slavery that brought him down to Egypt. Because of Jehovah’s blessing, Joseph gained great prominence and power in the land of Egypt. When famine came, his brothers traveled to Egypt in search of food. Powerful Joseph did not show a spirit of vengeance against them. He did not return evil upon them, but showed love and a spirit of forgiveness. “Then he fell upon the neck of Benjamin his brother and gave way to weeping, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he proceeded to kiss all his brothers and to weep over them, and after that his brothers spoke with him.” (Gen. 45:14, 15) The results of this course of action were very good. The entire family were reunited and with the help of Joseph were able to survive the famine period.

13. (a) In ancient Israel, what class of people suffered much evil? (b) What experiences of David well illustrate this? (c) In the light of those experiences, what is the counsel of James?

¹³ Descendants of Jacob did not all take the same course when it came to evil. Some caused evil, but others suffered evil. Among those who suffered the most evil were the prophets of Jehovah who spoke in his name. Their suffering originated mainly from those of their own nation who had lost the spirit of Jehovah and yielded to the inclinations of the flesh. Highly honored among men of the nation was Saul, who became the first king. He had opportunities to do much good, but instead acted foolishly, did not keep God’s commandments and so did not enjoy the favor of Jehovah. His contemporary David proved to be blessed by Jehovah with victory over Goliath. So Saul was afraid of David, came to hate him and schemed to have David die. Personally, Saul tried to spear David, but David escaped. Time and again Saul endeavored to do evil to David. Nevertheless, David showed the spirit of God and would not let himself be provoked into returning evil upon Saul. David felt sorry for Saul and determined to leave the settling of matters in the hands of Jehovah God. (1 Sam. 18:15, 25; 19:10, 11; 24:4-15) David was but one of the prophets who suffered evil; there were many others who have also left a good example for us to copy. It is evident that those who were patient with evildoers are the ones who gained the favor of God. Let us do likewise: “Brothers, take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets, who spoke in the name of Jehovah. Look! We pronounce happy those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very tender in affection and merciful.”—Jas. 5:10, 11.

Conquering the Evil with the Good in Modern Times

1, 2. (a) What have been some of the evils suffered by Jehovah’s witnesses in this century? (b) Have these things drawn them away from doing their work? (c) Why have Jehovah’s witnesses gone into the courts? (d) What words of Jesus have comforted them?

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES of the present day have an obligation to spread the good news of God’s kingdom and live in accord with God’s Word and law. Because of their sincere worship of Jehovah God, they have often been subjected to strong persecution. Some have been killed because of their faith. Others have been forced to endure many reproaches and suffer injustices. They have been lied about and denied their lawful rights. Their children have been expelled from schools. Their homes and properties have been destroyed. Illegal blood transfusions have been forced upon them. Some have had their business ruined or have lost their secular employment because of their faith. Theirs has been an outstanding history of being done evil. But through it all the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses have not lost sight of their commission to preach the good news of the Kingdom. Christians do have the right to defend themselves legally in times of persecution and Jehovah’s witnesses have gone to great expense to defend and legally establish the good news.—Phil. 1:7.

² Jehovah’s witnesses are thankful for the good counsel and instruction of God’s Word, which has helped them to avoid having a spirit of vengeance, so that they have not gone into the courts of the land with the purpose of taking vengeance but have remembered the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:18-28: “Why, you will be haled before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations. However, when they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour; for the ones speaking are not just you, but it