and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He left everything, and rose up and followed him.
- KJV And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
- NKJV So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
- NASB And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.
- NLT So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
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
Levi leaves everything and follows Jesus at once. He responds to Christ's call with immediate, total commitment.
Overview
Levi abandons his lucrative tax office to follow Jesus without hesitation. Like the fishermen before him, he forsakes all, showing the transforming power of Christ's call. His decisive obedience exemplifies the response the gospel demands and the joy of being claimed by the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Luke 5:11And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.
- Matt 19:22–27When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.
- Luke 9:59–62Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- 1 Kgs 19:19–21So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.
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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 5:28 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.