So I urge you to imitate me.
Parallel translations
- WEB I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.
- KJV Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
- BSB Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
- NKJV Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
- NASB Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul urges the Corinthians to imitate him. It matters because mature believers offer their own Christlike conduct as a pattern to follow.
Overview
As their spiritual father, Paul calls his children to imitate his way of life—elsewhere clarified as imitating him only as he imitates Christ (11:1). In a culture of personality factions, he redirects them not to a hero but to the cross-shaped, humble, self-giving pattern he has just described. Discipleship rightly involves following godly examples that lead us to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Cor 11:1Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
- Phil 3:17Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example.
- 2 Th 3:9not because we don’t have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, that you should imitate us.
- 1 Th 1:6You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
- Heb 13:7Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
- Phil 4:9The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
- John 10:4–5Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
- 1 Pet 5:3neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 4:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.