Matthew 5:12

Plain English Version

You see, if they do these bad things to you now, God will give you lots of good things later, in heaven. So you can be really happy, no matter what they do. Remember the stories from a long time ago, about the men that told everyone God’s message. Some people did bad things to those men too.”

Cross References

Genesis 15:1

Later on, after Abram saved Lot, Abram had a dream, and God talked to him in that dream. God said, “Abram, don’t be frightened, I will always keep you safe, so that nobody can ever hurt you, and I am going to give you lots of good things.”

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.

Luke 13:34

Then Jesus gave a message for the people that lived in Jerusalem city. He said, “You Jerusalem mob. You never listen to the men that tell you God’s messages, but instead you kill them. Yes, you throw big stones at them to kill them. Listen, I wanted to look after you mob, just like a chook looks after her young chicks and covers them with her wings, so that nothing can hurt them. I often wanted to look after you like that, but you never let me.

Acts 16:25

Later, in the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were praying out loud to God and saying that he is really good, and they were singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 5:41

So Jesus’s special workers left that meeting, and they were very happy. They knew that God reckoned they were good enough to feel pain for Jesus, and to be shamed for following him, so they were happy, even though the soldiers hit them.

Romans 5:3

We can be happy now too, even if things go wrong for us and we get trouble. We know that God lets us get trouble to make us strong, so that we will learn how to keep on believing, even if we have problems.

Philippians 1:29

You see, God lets you believe in Jesus Christ. But not only that, sometimes people make trouble for you because you believe in Jesus. God lets that happen too.

Philippians 2:17

Yes, I’m happy about you. And even if they kill me, I will still be happy. I know that you believe in Jesus and you work for him, and when you do that, you are giving yourselves to God. And if they are going to kill me, I will be giving my body to God too. So we can all be happy about it together.

Colossians 1:24

Yes, I tell people the message about Jesus. Some people don’t like it, and they give me trouble. But that doesn’t matter, that message helps people that believe it. You believe it, so it helps you. So I am happy, and I keep on telling it. You know that Jesus Christ got a lot of trouble. In the same way, I get a lot of trouble. But I want to keep on helping his people. They are the church. They are like the body of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:24

Yes, you are working for our leader, Jesus Christ, and remember that later on he will pay you properly, just like he promised us.

1 Thessalonians 2:15

That Jewish mob didn’t want to believe God, and they made trouble for Jesus. You see, a long time ago, it was the Jewish mob that killed the men that told God’s messages, and it was the Jewish mob that killed our leader Jesus too. And it was the same for us. Wherever we told people about Jesus, the Jewish mob chased us out of those places. They make God angry. They work against everyone.

James 1:2

Listen, my Christian friends, you might get a lot of trouble sometimes. You might get different sorts of trouble. But don’t get upset about it. No, you can be happy about it,

James 5:10

My Christian friends, remember the stories from a long time ago. Think about the people that told God’s messages to people. They kept going, even if people didn’t believe them, and if people gave them a lot of trouble.

1 Peter 4:13

You are getting trouble just like Jesus got trouble, so be happy. Don’t be sad. Then on the day that Jesus comes back and shows everyone that he is really great, you will be very happy.