Matthew 4:20

New Living Translation

And they left their nets at once and followed him.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

King James Version (1611)
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

King James Version
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

English Standard Version
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

New American Standard Bible
Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

New Century Version
So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

Amplified Bible
Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they straightway leauing the nets, folowed him.

Legacy Standard Bible
And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Berean Standard Bible
And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

Contemporary English Version
Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

Complete Jewish Bible
At once they left their nets and went with him.

Darby Translation
And they, having left their trawl-nets, immediately followed him.

Easy-to-Read Version
Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

George Lamsa Translation
So they immediately left their nets and went after him.

Good News Translation
At once they left their nets and went with him.

Lexham English Bible
And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Literal Translation
And leaving the nets, they immediately followed Him.

American Standard Version
And they straightway left the nets, and followed him.

Bible in Basic English
And straight away they let go the nets and went after him.

Hebrew Names Version
They immediately left their nets and followed him.

International Standard Version
So at once they left their nets and followed him.Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And they immediately forsook their nets and went after him.

Murdock Translation
And immediately, they left their nets, and went after him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they strayghtwaye lefte their nettes, and folowed hym.

English Revised Version
And they straightway left the nets, and followed him.

World English Bible
They immediately left their nets, and followed him.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And straitway leaving the nets they followed him.

Weymouth's New Testament
So they immediately left their nets and followed Him. As He went further on,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And anoon thei leften the nettis, and sueden hym.

Update Bible Version
And they immediately left the nets, and followed him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they immediately left [their] nets, and followed him.

New English Translation
They left their nets immediately and followed him.

New King James Version
They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

New Life Bible
At once they left their nets and followed Him.

New Revised Standard
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, they, straightway, leaving the nets, followed him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they immediately leaving their nets, followed him.

Revised Standard Version
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And they strayght waye lefte their nettes and folowed hym.

Young's Literal Translation
and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And they strayght waye lefte their nettes, and folowed hym.

Mace New Testament (1729)
so they immediately left their nets, and followed him.

Simplified Cowboy Version
They left the herd right there and rode off with him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him. ²¹ A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. ²² They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Matthew 10:37, Matthew 19:27, 1 Kings 19:21, Psalms 119:60, Mark 10:28-31, Luke 18:28-30, Galatians 1:16

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 19:20 - he left Isaiah 6:8 - Then Mark 1:17 - fishers Luke 5:11 - they forsook

Cross-References

Genesis 4:2
Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.

Genesis 4:4
Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,

Genesis 4:5
but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

Genesis 4:9
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my brother's guardian?"

Genesis 4:10
But the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!

Genesis 4:11
Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother's blood.

Genesis 4:12
No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."

Genesis 4:21
His brother's name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute.

Genesis 25:27
As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.

John 8:44
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they straightway left their nets,.... That is, as soon as he had called them, they left their worldly employment, and followed him; they gave up themselves to his service, and became his disciples; they not only left their "nets", but their fishing boats, and fishing trade, and all that belonged to it, even all their substance; and also their relations, friends, and acquaintance, see

Matthew 19:27 which shows what a mighty power went along with the words and call of Christ; and what a ready, cheerful, and voluntary subjection this produces, wherever it takes place.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Straightway - Immediately - as all should do when the Lord Jesus calls them.

Left their nets - Their nets were the means of their living, perhaps all their property. By leaving them immediately, and following him, they gave every evidence of sincerity. They showed, what we should, that they were willing to forsake all for the sake of Jesus, and to follow him wherever he should lead them. They went forth to persecution and death for his sake; but also to the honor of saving souls from death, and establishing a church that shall continue to the end of time. Little did they know what awaited them when they left their unmended nets to rot on the beach, and followed the unknown and unhonored Jesus of Nazareth. So we know not what awaits us when we become his followers; but we should cheerfully go when our Saviour calls, willing to commit all into his hands - come honor or dishonor, sickness or health, riches or poverty, life or death. Be it ours to do our duty at once, and to commit the result to the great Redeemer who has called us. Compare Matthew 6:33; Matthew 8:21-22; John 21:21-22.

Follow him - This is an expression denoting that they became his disciples, 2 Kings 6:19.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 4:20. They straightway left their nets — A change, as far as it respected secular things, every way to their disadvantage. The proud and the profane may exult and say, "Such preachers as these cannot be much injured by their sacrifices of secular property - they have nothing but nets, c., to leave." Let such carpers at the institution of Christ know, that he who has nothing but a net, and leaves that for the sake of doing good to the souls of men, leaves his ALL: besides, he lived comfortably by his net before but, in becoming the servant of all for Christ's sake, he often exposes himself to the want of even a morsel of bread. See on Matthew 19:27.