Paragraph 10:32–33

10:32a

Therefore: This paragraph is the conclusion to the previous verses about persecution. Jesus told his disciples not to be afraid of persecution. Therefore, they must not deny him in front of their persecutors.

Here are some other ways to introduce this conclusion:

So in conclusion
-or-
So (English Standard Version)

Introduce this conclusion in a natural way in your language.

everyone who confesses Me before men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as confesses means “acknowledge,” “admit” or “declare publicly.” In this context, this clause refers to publicly declaring that Jesus is the Savior and that he believes in Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Those who declare publicly that they belong to me (Good News Translation)
-or-
If you tell others that you belong to me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
All those who stand before others and say they believe in me (New Century Version)

men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates men is general and refers to people.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

people
-or-
others

10:32b

I will also confess him: This clause refers to Jesus declaring that the person of 10:32a is his true follower. He belongs in heaven.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

I will do the same for them (Good News Translation)
-or-
I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I will say before my Father in heaven that they belong to me. (New Century Version)

before: In this context, the word before refers to being physically in front of God.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

in the presence of (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
in front of (God’s Word)

My Father in heaven: This phrase refers to God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

my heavenly Father
-or-
my Father who ⌊lives⌋ in heaven

-or-

my Father ⌊God⌋ in heaven

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.