'Follow' in the Bible

The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?”

If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don’t let my son go back there.”

All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Leave, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will leave.’” And he left Pharaoh’s presence in fierce anger.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.

“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.

Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs.

then I will turn against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.

“If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands,

‘Because they did not follow Me completely, none of the men 20 years old or more who came up from Egypt will see the land I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—

none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they did follow the Lord completely.’

“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.

Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

He declared His covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He wrote on two stone tablets.

At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully.

But you stand here with Me, and I will tell you every command—the statutes and ordinances—you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.’

Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

“This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.

Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,

The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today.

Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

So keep the command—the statutes and ordinances—that I am giving you to follow today.

“You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your fathers.

For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithful to Him—

be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

“Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth.

and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’

You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him.

if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.

provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving the Lord your God and walking in His ways at all times—you are to add three more cities to these three.

“The Lord your God is commanding you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and all your soul.

Obey the Lord your God and follow His commands and statutes I am giving you today.”

“Now if you faithfully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth.

The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward if you listen to the Lord your God’s commands I am giving you today and are careful to follow them.

Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.

When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

“Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it.

The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today.

It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

Gather the people—men, women, children, and foreigners living within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law.

he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests, you must break camp and follow it.

After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord’s command—see that you do as I have ordered you.”

He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.

Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”

But Ruth replied:Do not persuade me to leave youor go back and not follow you.For wherever you go, I will go,and wherever you live, I will live;your people will be my people,and your God will be my God.

See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”

If you fear the Lord, worship and obey Him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who rules over you will follow the Lord your God.

Don’t turn away to follow worthless things that can’t profit or deliver you; they are worthless.

The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said.“Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.”

Accept this gift your servant has brought to my lord, and let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves or some other place. If some of our troops fall first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

One of Joab’s young men had stood over Amasa saying, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.

Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.

Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

Elisha left the oxen, ran to follow Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you.”“Go on back,” he replied, “for what have I done to you?”

Then Ben-hadad sent messengers to him and said, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if Samaria’s dust amounts to a handful for each of the people who follow me.”

Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.

Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.

Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.

Then the king stood at his post and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.

join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of Yahweh our Lord.

BOOK I(Psalms 1–41)How happy is the manwho does not follow the advice of the wickedor take the path of sinnersor join a group of mockers!

For when he dies, he will take nothing at all;his wealth will not follow him down.

I follow close to You;Your right hand holds on to me.

So I gave them over to their stubborn heartsto follow their own plans.

If only My people would listen to Meand Israel would follow My ways,

for justice will again be righteous,and all the upright in heart will follow it.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;all who follow His instructions have good insight.His praise endures forever.

They do nothing wrong;they follow His ways.

Help me understand Your instruction,and I will obey itand follow it with all my heart.

I have kept my feet from every evil pathto follow Your word.

I carefully follow all Your preceptsand hate every false way.

My eyes pour out streams of tearsbecause people do not follow Your instruction.

So follow the way of good people,and keep to the paths of the righteous.

There is no remembrance of those who came before;and of those who will come afterthere will also be no remembranceby those who follow them.

I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

M If you do not know,most beautiful of women,follow the tracks of the flock,and pasture your young goatsnear the shepherds’ tents.

This is what the Lord says:The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cushand the Sabeans, men of stature,will come over to youand will be yours;they will follow you,they will come over in chainsand bow down to you.They will confess to you:God is indeed with you, and there is no other;there is no other God.

Keep your feet from going bareand your throat from thirst.But you say, “It’s hopeless;I love strangers,and I will continue to follow them.”

At that time Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves,

“Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?

But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.

then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt, and you will die there.

so they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.

“But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also completely profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them in the wilderness to put an end to them.