Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
- KJV He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
- NKJV He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
- NASB He *said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
- NLT Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
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
Jesus asks a second time if Peter loves Him and commands him to tend His sheep. It matters because it continues Peter's restoration and his calling to shepherd the church.
Overview
The second question and answer deepen Peter's reaffirmation of love after his denials. The charge to 'tend my sheep' broadens his pastoral task to the full care and oversight of Christ's people. The repetition mirrors the three denials, undoing them one by one. It establishes that genuine love for Christ is shown in faithful service to His flock.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Acts 20:28Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
- 1 Pet 5:2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
- 1 Pet 2:25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- John 10:11–16I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Ps 100:3Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Luke 19:10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
- Luke 15:3–7Then Jesus told them this parable:
- Ps 95:7For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,
- John 18:25Simon Peter was still standing and warming himself. So they asked him, “Aren’t you also one of His disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
- Matt 25:32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- Matt 26:72And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man!”
- Zech 13:7Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- John 18:17At this, the servant girl watching the door said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of this man’s disciples?” “I am not,” he answered.
- Matt 2:6‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
- Heb 13:20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
- John 10:26–27But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.
- Rev 7:17For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 21:16 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.