Matthew 4:19

King James Version

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you a different kind of fishermen. You will bring in people, not fish."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and he sayde vnto them folowe me and I will make you fisshers of men.

International Standard Version
He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishermen of people!"Luke 5:10-11;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people."

New Century Version
Jesus said, "Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

Update Bible Version
And he says to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he saith to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Amplified Bible
And He said to them, "Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men."

English Standard Version
And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

World English Bible
He said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for men."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he saith to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Weymouth's New Testament
And He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, Come ye aftir me, and Y shal make you to be maad fisscheris of men.

English Revised Version
And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Berean Standard Bible
"Come, follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Contemporary English Version
Jesus said to them, "Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish."

American Standard Version
And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yeshua said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!"

Darby Translation
and he says to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Etheridge Translation
And Jeshu said to them, Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Murdock Translation
And Jesus said to them: Follow me; and I will cause you to become fishers of men.

King James Version (1611)
And he saith vnto them, Follow mee: and I will make you fishers of men.

New Living Translation
Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"

New Life Bible
Jesus said to them, "Follow Me. I will make you fish for men!"

New Revised Standard
And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he sayd vnto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

George Lamsa Translation
And Jesus said to them, Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and he saith unto them, Come after me, - and I will make you fishers, of men.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he saith to them: Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men.

Revised Standard Version
And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he saith vnto them: Folowe me, and I wyl make you fysshers of men.

Good News Translation
Jesus said to them, "Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people."

Christian Standard Bible®
“Follow me,”

Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for men."

Lexham English Bible
And he said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of people."

Literal Translation
And He says to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith to them, `Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and he sayde vnto them: folowe me, & I will make you fisshers of me.

Mace New Testament (1729)
and he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men:

New English Translation
He said to them, "Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people."

New King James Version
Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." rm820They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

Simplified Cowboy Version
"Come and ride with me," Jesus said to 'em, "and help me gather mavericks. I'll make you gatherers of men."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Legacy Standard Bible
And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. ¹⁹ And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. ²⁰ And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. ²¹ And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. ²² And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Follow: Matthew 8:22, Matthew 9:9, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 19:21, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27, Luke 9:59, John 1:43, John 12:26, John 21:22

I will: Ezekiel 47:9, Ezekiel 47:10, Mark 1:17, Mark 1:18, Luke 5:10, Luke 5:11, 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, 2 Corinthians 12:16

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:1 - kept 1 Kings 19:19 - he with Proverbs 11:30 - and Song of Solomon 2:10 - Rise Amos 7:15 - took Matthew 13:47 - a net Luke 18:28 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 2:18
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Genesis 4:4
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Genesis 4:6
And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Matthew 19:8
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he saith unto them, follow me,.... These two brethren had been the disciples of John, as Theophylact thinks, and which seems agreeable to John 1:35 and though through John's pointing out Christ unto them, they had some knowledge of him, and conversation with him, yet they abode with him but for that day, John 1:37 and afterwards returned to their master; and upon his imprisonment, betook themselves to their former employment: from whence Christ now calls them to be his disciples, saying "follow me", or "come after me": that is, be a disciple of mine; see

Luke 14:27. And to encourage them to it, makes use of this argument; "and", or "for", I "will make you fishers of men": you shall be fishers still, but in a higher sense; and in a far more noble employment, and to much better purpose. The net they were to spread and cast was the Gospel, see Matthew 13:47 for Christ made them not

דייגי תורה, "fishers of the law", to use the words of Maimonides g, but fishers of the Gospel. The sea into which they were to cast the net was first Judea, and then the whole world; the fish they were to catch were the souls of men, both among Jews and Gentiles; of whose conversion and faith they were to be the happy instruments: now none could make them fishers in this sense, or fit them for such service, and succeed them in it, but Christ; and who here promises it unto them.

g Hilcot. Talmud. Torah, c. 1. sect. 12. so Dr. Lightfoot cites the phrase, but in Ed. Amsterd. it is דיני תורה, "the judgments of the law".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Fishers of men - Ministers or preachers of the gospel, whose business it shall be to win souls to Christ.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 4:19. Follow me — Come after me, δευτε οπισω μου. Receive my doctrines, imitate me in my conduct - in every respect be my disciples. We may observe that most of the calls of God to man are expressed in a few solemn words, which alarm, the conscience, and deeply impress the heart.

I will make you fishers of men. — Ezekiel Ezekiel 47:8-10, casts much light on this place; and to this prophet our Lord probably alludes. To follow Christ, and be admitted into a partnership of his ministry, is a great honour; but those only who are by himself fitted for it, God calls. Miserable are those who do not wait for this call - who presume to take the name of fishers of men, and know not how to cast the net of the Divine word, because not brought to an acquaintance with the saving power of the God who bought them. Such persons, having only their secular interest in view, study not to catch men, but to catch money: and though, for charity's sake, it may be said of a pastor of this spirit, he does not enter the sheepfold as a thief, yet he certainly lives as a hireling. See Quesnel.

Some teach to work, but have no hands to row;

Some will be eyes, but have no light to see;

Some will be guides, but have no feet to go;

Some deaf, yet ears, some dumb, yet tongues will be;

Dumb, deaf, lame, blind, and maimed, yet fishers all!

Fit for no use but store an hospital.

Fletcher's Piscatory Eclogues. Ec. iv. 5, 18.

Following a person, in the Jewish phrase, signifies being his disciple or scholar. See a similar mode of speech, 2 Kings 6:19.