John 15:16

Plain English Version

You didn’t pick me, but I picked you. And I am sending you out to do my work. I want you to be like branches that grow the sort of fruit that stays good for ever. Then you can ask God for anything that I say is good, and he will give it to you.

Cross References

Genesis 18:18

You know, Abraham’s family will be a big and powerful nation one day, and I will use his family to do good things for all the nations in the world.

Matthew 7:7

Jesus kept on teaching the people. He said, “Whenever you need something, you have to keep asking God for it, and he will give it to you. Keep looking for whatever you need, and God will let you find it. Maybe something will block you, so you can’t get what you need, like there is a door that is shut and you can’t get through it. Well, then keep on knocking at that door, and God will open it for you.

John 13:18

But I know that one of you will not do it. So I am not talking about all of you. You see, I picked all of you to be my followers, but I knew that one of you will turn against me. A long time ago, God got one of his men to write about this, and it is in God’s book. He wrote, ‘A man ate with me, but then he turned against me.’ And now that will happen, just like that man wrote.

John 15:19

The people that belong to this world don’t live God’s way. And they only love other people that belong to this world. But you are not like them, so they don’t love you. You see, I picked you out from the people of this world, and now you are different, so they hate you.

John 15:5

So I tell you, I am like the main trunk of the grape vine, and you are like the branches. If you stay joined to me, I will stay joined to you, and you will keep on doing what God wants you to do. You see, if any branches don’t stay joined to the trunk of the vine, they can’t grow any fruit. Just like that, if you are not joined to me, you can’t do anything for God.

John 6:70

Jesus said, “Yes, but listen, I picked all of you 12 men, but one of you is working against me, like a bad spirit.”

Acts 1:24

Then Jesus’s special workers prayed. They said, “Judas left his job, and went his own way, and now he is dead. He went to that bad place. And God, you know everyone properly, and you know the way they think. Please show us the man that you want to take Judas’s place, and to do his job, and to be a special worker of Jesus.”

Acts 1:8

But the Holy Spirit will come to you, and he will give you power, and then you will tell people about me in Jerusalem, and all over Judea country, and in Samaria country, and you will go to people everywhere in the world, and you will tell them about me.”

Acts 10:41

Not everybody saw him alive, but we saw him. We even ate and drank with him. And God picked us to tell other people about him.

Acts 22:14

Then he said, ‘The God that we respect, and that our grand-fathers respected, he picked you, and he will show you everything he wants you to do. You will see the man that is properly good, and you will hear him talking to you.

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 1:13

You know, friends, I tried to come and see you lots of times, but God stopped me every time. I want to come and work there with you and get more people to follow Jesus, just like I do at other places.

Romans 1:5

And you know, God is very good to me. He picked me to be Jesus’s special worker. He told me to go to people that are not Jews to tell them about Jesus, and get them to believe in him and do whatever he says.

Romans 15:4

You know, a long time ago, God got his men to write lots of things like that in his book. He did that to teach us mob that are here today about God. As we think about those things that they wrote, God cheers us up and helps us keep going for him, and we know for sure that God will do everything he promised to do for us.

1 Corinthians 10:11

All those things happened to that mob a long time ago, and God got his men to write it all in his book, to show us that those things are wrong. We have to think about those stories and learn from them. You see, we’re living in the end time now, and soon Jesus will come back.

Galatians 1:15

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

Ephesians 2:10

God is the one that made us what we are, and he wants us to do good things. He already has those good things ready for us to do. He turned us into new people, and he joined us to Jesus Christ, so now we can do those good things.

Colossians 1:23

If you stay strong, God will do that for you. You have to always remember the good news that you heard about Jesus, so that you keep on trusting him and know that he will save you. You see, God got his workers to tell people everywhere that Jesus died to save us. It is really good news. And I, Paul, am one of God’s workers now. My job is to tell people that good news.

Colossians 1:6

And other people everywhere are hearing that same true message that you heard about Jesus. And they are believing in Jesus and doing good things too.

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.

Titus 1:5

Titus, remember when I was with the Christians on that island called Crete, some things there were not right. So I asked you to stay there and try to fix those things. I also told you to pick good leaders to look after the Christians in all the towns on Crete.

James 3:18

Whenever somebody teaches people to live the right way, like that, those other people stop fighting each other, and they start to be good to each other.

1 Peter 3:15

Always remember that Jesus Christ is the really important one. He is your good leader, so listen to him. People might say to you, “Tell us, why are you sure that God will do good things for you?” So you always have to be ready to help them understand why you are sure.

1 Peter 3:2

They will see that you are really good and that you listen properly to God.