Acts 13:2

Plain English Version

At one time, Barnabas and Saul, and those other men, they stopped eating food for a while, and they prayed to God. At that time, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Pick out Barnabas and Saul for me now. I’ve got special work for them to do.”

Cross References

Matthew 6:16

Jesus kept on teaching the people. Some of those people used to stop eating for a while, so they can think about God and respect him. Jesus said, “Whenever you stop eating for a while, make sure you look the same as you always look. You know, there are some people that want everyone to think they are good, even though they are not good. Whenever they stop eating food to respect God, they want everyone to know what they are doing, so they let their faces get dirty, and they try to look sad. They want people to say, ‘That’s a good person.’ But listen, that is all those people will get. God will not give them anything good for doing that. Don’t be like them.

Matthew 9:38

So you have to ask God to send more workers out to tell everyone about me, just like the farmer has to ask for more workers for his crop.”

Acts 10:19

At that same time, Peter was thinking about what he just saw, and the Holy Spirit said to him, “Listen, 3 men are down at the gate. They are looking for you.

Acts 10:30

Cornelius said, “4 days ago I was praying in my house at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly I saw a man wearing bright shining clothes standing in front of me.

Acts 13:3

So those men kept on praying and not eating any food for a bit longer. Then they put their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and they prayed for them and told them, “You can go now and do God’s work.”

Acts 13:4

The Holy Spirit told Barnabas and Saul the places they had to go to. So they went to the town called Selushia, and then they got on a ship and sailed to the island called Cyprus.

Acts 14:26

Paul and Barnabas got on a ship at Attalia, and they went back to Antioch, in Syria country. Antioch was the city where they started from, some time before. It was those Antioch Christians that asked God to look after Paul and Barnabas and be good to them, and then they sent them out to tell people about Jesus. That is the reason why Paul and Barnabas went back to Antioch after they finished that work.

Acts 20:28

Now you leaders have to make sure you keep on following Jesus properly, and you have to help God’s people to follow him properly too. The Holy Spirit picked you to be their leaders, so look after them properly. Remember, God bought his people with the blood of his own son.

Acts 22:21

But our leader, Jesus, said to me, ‘No, don’t stay here. Leave Jerusalem. You see, I’m sending you a long way from here. I’m sending you to people that are not Jews.’ ”

Acts 4:36

One of the Christians that sold their land was Joseph. Jesus’s special workers called him Barnabas. That name means helper. He was from the island called Cyprus, and he belonged to the Levi tribe.

Acts 6:4

while we will keep on praying and teaching God’s word.”

Acts 8:29

Then the Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Catch up with that trailer and walk along beside it.”

Acts 9:15

But Jesus said to Ananias, “Don’t worry. Go to him anyway. You see, I picked that man to do my work. He will tell a lot of people about me. He will tell Jewish people about me. And he will tell people that are not Jews about me, even their biggest bosses too.

Romans 1:1

I am Paul, and this letter is from me. I work for Jesus Christ, and God picked me to be Jesus’s special worker, to go and tell people the good news that he will save them.

Romans 10:15

And somebody has to send those messengers to go and tell the people about Jesus. God says this in his book too, “It is really good to see God’s messengers come and bring his good news.”

Romans 15:16

and he picked me out to be a worker for Jesus Christ. My job is to tell the good news about Jesus to people that are not Jews. After I tell them that good news, God’s spirit works in them to make them good and right, and God is really happy with them. It is like I give them to God, like a really good gift.

1 Corinthians 12:11

It is the same Holy Spirit that does all those things. He gives gifts to each person, just the way he wants to.

1 Corinthians 7:5

So, if your husband or wife wants to sleep with you, to do what married people do together, you can’t say, “No.” But both of you can agree to wait for a while without sleeping together, so you can use the time to pray. Then, soon after that, you have to sleep together again. If you don’t, Satan might trick you. He knows you can’t control yourselves very well. If you go too long without sleeping together, then he will try to get one of you to sleep with somebody else.

Galatians 1:15

But God was good to me, and he picked me to be his worker even before I was born.

Ephesians 3:7

God was really good to me. He used his power to help me to be strong. Then he gave me this special job. I have to tell people this good news about Jesus.

Colossians 4:17

Now here is a special message from me to Arkipus. Tell him, “Our leader, Jesus, gave you a job, so keep on doing it, until you finish it properly.”

1 Timothy 2:7

And God has picked me to be Jesus’s special worker, to go and tell people his word. What I’m saying now is really true. I’m not lying. He picked me to go to those people that are not Jewish, and to tell them that God will save them too.

2 Timothy 1:11

And God gave me this job, to tell everyone that good story, and to teach everyone that Jesus can save them.

2 Timothy 2:2

You heard me tell those true things about Jesus to lots of people, so you have to teach those things to more people. Pick good people that everyone respects, then teach them those things, so that they can go to other people and teach them those same things.

2 Timothy 4:5

Don’t be like those people. You have to control yourself all the time, no matter what happens to you. If they get tough on you, don’t get upset, just keep going. You have to keep on telling people the good news about Jesus, and you have to finish all the work that he gave you to do.

1 Samuel 2:11

After that, Elkanah and his family went home to Ramah. Samuel stayed at Shiloh, and there Eli taught him the way to work for God.