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And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.
Luke 5:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
  • KJV And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
  • NKJV So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
  • NASB When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
  • NLT And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

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

The fishermen leave everything and follow Jesus. Genuine discipleship means forsaking all to follow Christ.

Overview

Having just received the greatest catch of their lives, the men leave it behind to follow Jesus. Their willingness to abandon boats, nets, and trade shows the supreme worth they now see in Christ. This decisive forsaking of all is a model of wholehearted discipleship and foreshadows the apostolic mission they will share.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Matt 4:20And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
  • Matt 19:27“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?”
  • Luke 18:28–30“Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.”
  • Luke 5:28and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.
  • Mark 10:21Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
  • Mark 1:18–25And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
  • Matt 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
  • Phil 3:7–8But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
  • Mark 10:29–30“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 5:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 5:11 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.