John 10:27

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 21:22

21:22 Jesus replied, ¹  “If I want him to live ²  until I come back, ³  what concern is that of yours? You follow me!”

Numbers 14:24

14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully – I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants ⁴  will possess it.

Numbers 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ⁵  not ⁶  one of the men twenty years old and upward ⁷  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ⁸  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Matthew 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁹  he must deny ¹⁰  himself, take up his cross, ¹¹  and follow me.

Mark 8:34

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ¹²  Jesus ¹³  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹⁴  he must deny ¹⁵  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁶  and follow me.

Luke 9:23

A Call to Discipleship

9:23 Then ¹⁷  he said to them all, ¹⁸  “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹⁹  he must deny ²⁰  himself, take up his cross daily, ²¹  and follow me.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ²²  imitators of God as dearly loved children 5:2 and live ²³  in love, just as Christ also loved us ²⁴  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ²⁵  to God.

Revelation 14:4

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ²⁶  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

[21:22]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[21:22]  ² tn Grk “to stay” or “to remain”; but since longevity is the issue in the context, “to live” conveys the idea more clearly.

[21:22]  ³ tn The word “back” is supplied to clarify the meaning.

[14:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “seed.”

[32:11]  ⁵ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

[32:11]  ⁶ tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

[32:11]  ⁷ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

[32:11]  ⁸ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ¹⁰ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[16:24]  ¹¹ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[8:34]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ¹⁵ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[8:34]  ¹⁶ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[9:23]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:23]  ¹⁸ sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.

[9:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[9:23]  ²⁰ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[9:23]  ²¹ sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[5:1]  ²² tn Or “become.”

[5:2]  ²³ tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).

[5:2]  ²⁴ tc A number of important witnesses have ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; e.g., א* A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally important witnesses read ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, hgaphsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.

[5:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

[14:4]  ²⁶ tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.