But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
Parallel translations
- WEB But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
- KJV But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
- BSB But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
- NASB But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
- NLT But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
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
Whoever denies Christ before others, He will deny before the Father. Persistent rejection of Him carries eternal consequences.
Overview
The solemn counterpart to verse 32, this warning shows that disowning Christ before people is no light matter. It describes the settled, unrepentant denial of the unbeliever, not the momentary failure later restored, as Peter's case shows (Matt. 26:75; John 21). The verse presses the urgency of faithful allegiance to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Tim 2:12If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.
- Luke 9:26For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
- Luke 12:9but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.
- 1 Jn 2:23Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
- 2 Pet 2:1But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
- Mark 14:30Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you, that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
- Mark 8:38For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in his Father’s glory, with the holy angels.”
- Mark 14:72The rooster crowed the second time. Peter remembered the word, how that Jesus said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” When he thought about that, he wept.
- Matt 26:70–75But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 10:33 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.