Genesis 44:8

Plain English Version

Those men kept on talking to Joseph’s worker. They said, “Sir, think about that other time when we came to your country to buy food. On the way home to Canaan country, we found money in our food bags, on top of the food. But we didn’t try to keep that money. No, we wanted to give it back to you. So the next time we came to your country, we brought that money with us, to give it to you. That shows that we are good men. So you can be sure that we didn’t steal anything made of silver or gold from your boss’s house.”

Cross References

Genesis 42:21

Then Joseph’s brothers talked to each other in their own language. They said, “You know, a long time ago, we made bad trouble for our brother Joseph. We chucked him into a big hole in the ground, and then we sold him to some men from the Midian tribe. At that time, we saw that he was really frightened, and he asked us strongly to be good to him, but we didn’t listen. That’s the reason why we’ve got this bad trouble now. God is punishing us for those things that we did to Joseph.”

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 42:35

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 43:12

Then Jacob kept on talking to his sons. He said, “Remember, the last time you mob went to Egypt, you paid money for food. Then later on, you found that money in your food bags. I don’t know why somebody put that money into your food bags. Maybe that person wasn’t thinking right. So you have to take that money back to Egypt country, and you have to give it to that man that is in charge. And take some other money with you as well, to pay for the food that you will buy this time.”

Genesis 43:18

Then those men got frightened. They talked to each other, and they said, “You know, the last time we came here to Egypt country, we brought money with us, to buy food. But somebody put that money in our food bags, and then we took those food bags back home with us. We didn’t know that our money was in those bags. Now that man is going to say to us, ‘You mob stole that money.’ That’s the reason why he wants us at his house. Him and his men, they are going to attack us, and we will not be able to fight back, because they will be too strong for us. Then they will make us like prisoners, and we will have to work very hard for them. And they will take our donkeys too.”

Genesis 44:7

But those men said to him, “Sir, we don’t know why you said those things. We didn’t steal your boss’s cup. We respect you and your boss, and we don’t want to do bad things to you. No way.”

Romans 13:9

God’s law says, “Love other people just as much as you love yourself.” You know there are lots of other laws too, like, “Don’t sleep with somebody that you are not married to, as if they are your wife or husband,” and, “Don’t murder anybody,” and, “Don’t steal anything,” and, “If something belongs to somebody else, don’t think about getting it for yourself.” But if you really love other people, you will not do any of those wrong things anyway. So that law that says to love people, it says what all the other laws say when you listen to them all together.