Acts 20:35

Plain English Version

I did everything in a way that showed you that we all have to work hard to get enough money, not just for ourselves, but to give some to people that don’t have the things they need. We have to remember that our leader, Jesus, said, ‘If people give things to you, that can make you a bit happy. But if you give things to other people, you will be properly happy.’ ”

Cross References

Acts 20:20

And you know that I told you all of God’s message, everything that will help you. I didn’t keep anything secret. I taught you God’s message in places where everyone heard me, and I taught you in your homes too.

Acts 20:27

I told you all everything that God wants to do for you.

Acts 20:36

Paul finished talking, then he got down on his knees with all of those Christian leaders, to show respect to God, and he prayed with them.

Romans 15:1

Some of us are strong and trust God about these things, but other Christians are weak and worry about them a lot. We strong Christians have to be easy on those weak Christians, and help them get strong. We have to think about the problems they have with these things. We can’t just do whatever makes us happy.

1 Corinthians 9:12

Other people ask you to give them things, and that’s all right for them, so it has to be all right for us too. But we never ask you to give us anything. You see, if we ask for things when we tell people the good news about Jesus Christ, some of them will not listen to that good news. But we want everybody to listen to our message about Jesus, so we never ask anybody for anything. We reckon it’s better to go short of things.

Ephesians 4:28

Anyone that steals things from other people has to stop doing that. Instead, they have to do honest work to get things for themselves, and they have to give things to other people that need them.

1 Thessalonians 4:11

Try to live the way we told you to when we were with you. Try to live in a quiet way, and don’t make any trouble for anyone. Don’t mess up the things that other people are doing, or try to boss them around. And don’t be lazy, but work to get enough money to buy whatever you need.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

And the next thing, friends, tell lazy people that they have to work. – And if somebody is frightened, talk to them in a way that helps them to be brave. – And help anybody that is weak. – And don’t get angry with anyone, keep on trying to help them. –