And he saith unto them, Follow me, 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.”
- BSB “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “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 1:17–18And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
- John 12:26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
- Matt 16:24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
- Luke 9:59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
- John 1:43The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
- John 21:22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
- Luke 5:27And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
- Mark 2:14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
- Matt 19:21Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
- Luke 5:10–11And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
- 1 Cor 9:20–22And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
- Matt 8:22But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
- Ezek 47:9–10And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
- Matt 9:9And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
- 2 Cor 12:16But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.