“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”
- KJV And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
- NKJV Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
- NASB And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
- NLT Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”
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 calls Peter and Andrew to follow Him and become 'fishers for men.' It defines discipleship as following Christ and joining His mission.
Overview
With a play on their trade, Jesus invites the brothers into a life of following Him that will be devoted to gathering people into the kingdom. The call is authoritative and gracious, and it reorders their entire vocation around Christ. It models the pattern of all true discipleship: to follow Jesus and be made into instruments of His saving work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Mark 1:17–18“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
- John 12:26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- Matt 16:24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- Luke 9:59Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- John 1:43The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”
- John 21:22Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
- Luke 5:27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,
- Mark 2:14As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
- Matt 19:21Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
- Luke 5:10–11and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.”
- 1 Cor 9:20–22To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.
- Matt 8:22But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
- Ezek 47:9–10Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.
- Matt 9:9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
- 2 Cor 12:16Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery.
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 4:19 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.