And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
Parallel translations
- WEB They came to him, and woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!”
- BSB The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
- NKJV Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
- NASB And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”
- NLT The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
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 terrified disciples wake Jesus, crying out to be saved from drowning. Their plea mixes real faith with fear, turning to him in their helplessness.
Overview
In desperation the disciples address Jesus as 'Lord' and beg for rescue, rightly looking to him though gripped by fear. Their cry, 'Save us, we are dying,' captures the human extremity in which faith and doubt mingle. Even imperfect faith that turns to Christ in trouble is faith he will answer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jonah 1:6So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
- Mark 4:38–39And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
- 2 Chr 14:11And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.
- Ps 44:22–23Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
- 2 Chr 20:12O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
- Luke 8:24And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
- Isa 51:9–10Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
- Ps 10:1Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
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 8:25 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.