Luke 18:14

Plain English Version

Jesus said, “I’m telling you now, God listened to that bad man because he was sorry for the bad things he did, so God says that he is all right, and he will not punish that man. But God doesn’t say that about the other man that already reckoned he was good. You see, if you try to make yourself important, God will make you like nothing. But if you make yourself like nothing, God will make you important.” (We have not yet translated 18:15-43. You can read those stories and messages in Mark 10:13-34, 46-52.)

Cross References

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.

Luke 1:52

He chucks out the big bosses and takes their power away. But he gets people that are not important, and he makes them bosses.

Luke 10:29

But the man wanted to show that he asked an important question, so he said, “What does it mean by the people around me? Who are they?”

Luke 14:11

You see, if you try to make yourself important, God will make you like nothing. But if you make yourself like nothing, God will make you important.”

Luke 16:15

Then Jesus told them, “You mob want everyone to think you are good, but God knows what you are really like, and he knows what you think inside your heads. You see, there are things that people reckon are important, but God thinks those things are rubbish.

Romans 5:1

So we believe in Jesus now, and God says we are all right, and he will not punish us. God is really good to us. Jesus Christ, our leader, did all that for us. Now we can be happy and think about how good it will be for us later, when we will be with God. God will show us how great he is, and he will make us great too.

Romans 8:33

God himself is the one that says, “You are good,” so nobody can blame us and tell God, “They are no good.”

Galatians 2:16

And we know that if people just try to follow that law, they can’t do it properly, so God will not say they are all right. He will only do that for people that trust Jesus Christ. And we trusted Jesus Christ, so now God will say we are all right. You see, if we believe in Jesus, God will say we are all right, and he will not punish us. If we only think about following the law, we will never do it properly, so he will never say we are all right. Nobody can get God to say they are all right by just following the law.

James 4:10

Tell God that you are sorry. Tell him that you know that you are weak, and that you are not important. If you do that, he will tell you that you are important, and he will make you strong.

James 4:6

And remember that God is really good to us. His book says this too, “God is against people that think they are great, but he is good to people that know they are not great.”

1 Samuel 1:18

Hannah said to him, “Thank you, old man. You have made me feel happy now.” And she left God’s house, and she went and ate some food. Her face was not sad any more.