Genesis 43:20

Plain English Version

They said, “Please, sir, we want to tell you something. Some time ago, we came here to Egypt country, to buy food. We got lots of food, and we paid money for that food.

Cross References

Genesis 42:10

But they said to him, “No, sir, that’s not true. We respect you. We came here to buy food.

Genesis 42:27

Later that day, they stopped in another place, to camp there that night. One of Joseph’s brothers wanted food for his donkey, so he opened his food bag. Then he saw his money in there on top of the food, and he got a shock.

Genesis 42:3

So 10 of Jacob’s sons left Canaan country, and they went to Egypt country to buy food there. Those 10 men were Joseph’s half-brothers. They had the same father as Joseph, but different mothers.

Genesis 42:35

After Joseph’s brothers told their father those things, they all opened their bags, and they started to take out the food. Then all of them saw their money in those bags. And their father Jacob saw that money too. They all got a shock, and they were frightened.

Genesis 43:19

So when those men got near to Joseph’s house, they stopped outside the door of the house, and they talked to Joseph’s worker.

Genesis 43:21

Then on the way home, we stopped at a place to camp for the night. Then we opened our food bags, and we saw that all our money was in those bags, on top of the food. We don’t know who put that money in our bags. So now, we brought that money here, to give it back. And we brought some other money with us too, so that we can buy more food.”

Genesis 43:3

But Jacob’s son Judah said, “You know that we can’t go back to Egypt country without our youngest brother Benjamin. That man that is in charge of Egypt, he will not let us do that. Last time we went to Egypt, that man talked strongly to us, and he said, ‘You can only come back here if you bring your youngest brother with you.’ ”

Genesis 43:7

Jacob’s sons said, “That man asked us lots of questions about ourselves and our family. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? And have you got another brother?’ We just answered his questions. We didn’t know that he was going to say, ‘Bring your brother here.’ ”