James 2:5

Plain English Version

Listen to me, my good Christian friends. God picks out poor people, and he helps them to trust him properly. He promises to give them a good place in his family. He promises that to everybody that loves him. In the end those poor people will be really rich.

Cross References

Matthew 11:5

Some people were blind, but now they can see. Some people were crippled, but now they can walk. Some people had a bad skin sickness, but now their skin is good again. Some people were deaf, but now they can hear. Some people were dead, but now they are alive again. And tell John that you heard us telling the good news to poor people.

Matthew 25:34

Then I will say to the people on my right-hand side, ‘Come on, you mob. My father is happy with you, so you can be in his family. A long time ago, at the time when he made the world, he made a good place for you. It is ready for you now.

Matthew 5:3

Jesus said, “Some people know that they need God very much. All right, God will take those people into his family, and they will be really happy.

Mark 7:14

Then Jesus called out to all the people to come and listen to him. He said, “Listen to me, everyone, and try to understand what I’m saying.

Luke 12:21

That is a picture story to tell you people this. If you keep money and things just for yourself, and if you don’t use them the way God wants you to, you are stupid.” (We have not yet translated 12:22-53. You can read those stories and messages in Matthew 6:19-21, 25-34; 10:34-36; 24:45-51.)

Luke 16:22

Then one day, the poor man died, and God sent his angel messengers to get him and take him to be with Abraham, our grand-father that died a long time ago. Then later the rich man died, and his family buried his body.

Luke 16:25

But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that when you were alive on the earth, you had everything that you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here, and we are making him feel good, but you are there in that fire.

John 7:48

Think about it. Have any of the Jewish leaders believed in him? No. Or have any of us Pharisee mob believed in him? No.

Acts 7:2

Then Stephen said, “Listen to me, my countrymen and my leaders. Think about the story about our grand-fathers that lived a long time ago. Our great God came to our grand-father Abraham, while he was still living in Mesopotamia country, where the Chaldia mob lived. God said to him, ‘Leave your country and your family. Go to the country that I will show you.’ Abraham listened to God, and he left that country, and he went to live in a place called Haran. He lived there until his father died. Then God brought him here, to this country that you live in now.

Romans 8:17

We joined up with Jesus Christ, God’s son, so we are part of God’s family now, and we will get some of the good things that God gives to his son. But people gave Jesus a lot of trouble, and they will give us a lot of trouble too, because we belong to him. Yes, we will get trouble, and we will get good things too.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But, you know, God says this in his book, “God got good things ready for the people that love him. Those things are better than anything anybody else can ever think up. Nobody ever saw or heard anything as good as the things that God got ready for us.”

Ephesians 1:18

God promised very great things to his people, and now he has them ready for you. I pray that he will show them to you clearly, like he will switch on a light in your minds, so you can know and be sure about these good things.

Ephesians 3:8

I’m not important. All of God’s people are more important than me. But God was good to me, and he gave me this special job. He sent me to tell the people that are not Jews about the really great things that Jesus Christ can give them. These things are so great that nobody can understand them properly.

1 Thessalonians 2:12

We taught you, and we helped you to be brave and strong. And we told you very strongly to do things that make God happy. You see, God is the one that picked you to be in his own family, and you will be really great with him.

2 Thessalonians 1:5

You keep on believing in Jesus, and that shows us that God always judges people the right way. It is right for you to be in God’s family, because you keep on believing in Jesus, no matter how much trouble people give you.

1 Timothy 6:18

So tell them to use their money to do good things for other people. Tell them to be ready to give it to people that need it.

2 Timothy 4:18

And God will always look after me, no matter what bad things people do to try to hurt me, and he will take me up into heaven to be with him in his family. Everybody has to praise him and say that he is great, for ever and ever. Yes, that’s right.

2 Timothy 4:8

I followed Jesus all the way, and very soon he will give me a prize, like a sportsman gets a medal after he wins. Jesus will make me properly good, that will be my prize. Jesus, our leader, is a fair judge, and he has got that prize ready to give me on the day that he comes back. And not just to me. He will give that prize to everybody that wants him to come back again, he will make them all properly good.

James 1:12

If God lets people test you, to see if you trust him properly, don’t give up trusting him. After God sees that you keep on trusting him, he will give you new life, so that you will live with him for ever. He promised to do that for everybody that loves him.

James 1:16

Don’t let anybody trick you, my Christian friends.

James 1:19

Listen, my Christian friends, you have to be ready to listen to other people, and you have to stop and think before you say anything yourself. Stop and think before you get angry.

James 1:9

If Christians haven’t got much money, or if people don’t think they are important, they can be happy, because God thinks they are important.

1 Peter 1:4

We are his family, so he will give us a lot of good things. He has them all ready in heaven for us, so now we just wait for those things. God looks after them all there for us in heaven. They will never rot or get dirty there, and nobody can ever mess them up.

2 Peter 1:11

Then God will be very happy with you, and he will make sure you live with him for ever. You will be in Jesus Christ’s family. He is our leader, and he saves us.