The Great Commission — Matthew 28 KJV
The full King James text of Matthew 28:16-20, ready to read or print, followed by a clause-by-clause walkthrough of the risen Christ’s final charge and the whole of Matthew 28.
Matthew 28:16-20, King James Version
16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
King James Version — public domain. biblegarden.net/great-commission
The Commission, Clause by Clause
Five verses, and every part of a commission is in them: who receives it, the authority behind it, the order, its scope, and the promise attached. Each entry below quotes the King James clause it explains.
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them
Eleven, not twelve — Matthew does not paper over the gap Judas left. The meeting place had been arranged in advance: before the crucifixion Jesus told them “after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matthew 26:32), and the angel at the tomb repeats the instruction word for word (28:7). So the last scene of the gospel happens where the ministry began, in the northern province Matthew earlier called “Galilee of the Gentiles” (4:15) — not in Jerusalem, and not at the temple.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted
Matthew leaves the sentence in. Worship and hesitation sit in the same verse, held apart only by a colon, and nothing in the passage suggests Jesus waits for the doubt to clear before he speaks — verse 18 follows immediately. Whatever the commission requires of the men on that hillside, unanimous certainty is not it.
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth
The KJV's “power” here translates exousia — authority, the right to act, rather than raw strength. This sentence is load-bearing: everything after it hangs on the word “therefore.” The disciples are not being asked to volunteer for something difficult; they are being deployed under an authority that has already been handed over. Daniel had seen it given: “there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him” (Daniel 7:14).
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations
In the Greek this long sentence has exactly one finite imperative — mathēteusate, “make disciples.” “Go” (poreuthentes), “baptizing” and “teaching” are all participles hanging on it. The King James renders that one imperative as “teach,” which is why the KJV reads “teach all nations” where modern versions read “make disciples of all nations.” And “all nations” (panta ta ethnē) is the hinge of the book: earlier in the same gospel Jesus sent the twelve out with the opposite instruction — “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6).
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
One name, three named — the KJV keeps “name” singular though the sentence lists Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that grammatical detail is why this verse became the standard baptismal formula of the church. It is also the first thing on the list after the command itself: making a disciple begins with a public, visible act rather than a private opinion. Peter's answer at Pentecost is the same instruction carried out — “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38).
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
The KJV says “teach” twice in two verses, but the Greek words differ: verse 19 is mathēteusate, make disciples; verse 20 is didaskontes, ordinary instruction. And the aim is not information — the disciples are to teach people to observe, that is, to keep and do. The syllabus is fixed as well: “all things whatsoever I have commanded you,” which sends the reader straight back through Matthew's five great discourses, the Sermon on the Mount first among them.
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world
“Alway” is the 1611 spelling, and the Greek behind it is literally “all the days” — not an abstraction but every one of them in turn. “The end of the world” renders the end of the age (sunteleias tou aiōnos), the same phrase the KJV uses at Matthew 13:39, 13:49 and 24:3, where it plainly means the close of this age rather than the destruction of the planet. With it Matthew closes a circle he opened in his first chapter: “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (1:23). The gospel begins with God with us and ends with “I am with you.”
Why It Matters
These are the last words of the gospel. Matthew gives no ascension scene and no epilogue. The book that opened with a genealogy stops on a hillside, mid-instruction, with an order and a promise and nothing after them — which leaves the reader holding the unfinished end of the story rather than watching it close.
The door opens to everyone.Matthew writes for readers who know the Hebrew scriptures, and for most of his gospel the mission is bounded: the twelve are sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and told to avoid Gentile and Samaritan towns (10:5-6). Here that boundary is removed in two words — “all nations” — and what had been a promise to Abraham’s descendants becomes an errand to everybody else.
The work is handed over.Verse 18 settles where the authority sits, and verse 19 begins with “therefore.” What the disciples are given is not power of their own but a commission under someone else’s — the reason the church has read this passage for centuries as its job description rather than as one option among several.
It defines what a disciple is.Not a convert counted once, but someone baptized and then taught “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The commission builds in its own follow-through: the making of disciples is not finished at the moment of profession.
Four “alls” hold it together. All power, all nations, all things whatsoever — and then “alway,” the King James word for what the Greek calls all the days. Authority, scope, content, and duration: nothing in the sentence is partial.
“Teach All Nations” and “Make Disciples”
A reader who knows the verse from a modern Bible often stops at the King James wording, because the two look like different commands. Matthew 28:19 in the KJV reads “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations”; the ESV, NIV and NASB read “make disciples of all nations.” The underlying Greek has not changed — both render the single verb mathēteusate, which means to make a disciple of someone.
What makes the KJV wording worth a second look is verse 20, where the King James says “teach” again — this time for didaskontes, the ordinary word for instructing. Two English verbs, two different Greek ones, one after the other. Reading the KJV alone, it is easy to hear a single activity repeated; the sentence is actually naming a command and then one of the means by which it is carried out.
The grammar makes the same point. Only “teach” in verse 19 is an imperative; “go,” “baptizing” and “teaching” are participles hanging on it. The commission is not four separate errands but one — make disciples — described by how it happens.
Matthew 28 in Full (KJV)
The commission arrives at the end of the resurrection chapter: the empty tomb and the angel (verses 1-8), Jesus meeting the women (9-10), the guards paid to say the body was stolen (11-15), and only then the eleven on the mountain. All 20 verses of Matthew 28 in the King James Version:
1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
11Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
12And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
13Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
14And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
15So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The Commission in the Other Gospels
Matthew is not the only witness. Four more passages record the same charge, each keeping a different part of it.
The same charge in one line, with the reach stated as territory rather than nations — into all the world, to every creature.
Mark 16:15Luke's version names the message (repentance and remission of sins) and the starting point Matthew leaves out: beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:47The commission stated as a pattern rather than a task — the sending of the disciples is modelled on the sending of the Son.
John 20:21What happens next: the same commission with the power supplied, and a map running from Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8Jesus had already said the gospel would reach all nations before the end — the commission of chapter 28 is the means by which it does.
Matthew 24:14A verse a day
Verse of the Day (KJV)
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Keep Exploring
Read the gospel the commission closes in the Book of Matthew, or take up the teaching the disciples are told to pass on — the Beatitudes that open the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord’s Prayer at its centre. A verse each morning arrives with the verse of the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Great Commission in the KJV?
It is the risen Christ's final charge to his disciples, given on a mountain in Galilee and recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. The command itself is verses 18-20: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” These are the last words of the Gospel of Matthew.
Where is the Great Commission in the Bible?
Matthew 28:16-20, at the very end of the gospel. Verses 16-17 set the scene — the eleven disciples meet Jesus on a mountain in Galilee — and verses 18-20 are the commission proper. Parallel commissions appear in Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-47, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8, each recording a different emphasis of the same charge.
Why does the KJV say “teach all nations” instead of “make disciples of all nations”?
Because the King James translators rendered the Greek verb mathēteusate as “teach.” It is the only finite imperative in the sentence — “go,” “baptizing” and “teaching” are participles depending on it — and it means to make someone a disciple, which is why modern versions read “make disciples of all nations.” The KJV then uses “teach” again in verse 20 for a different Greek word, didaskontes, meaning ordinary instruction. So the two English verbs in verses 19 and 20 translate two distinct Greek words: make disciples, then instruct them.
What does “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” mean?
The Greek word is exousia — authority, the right to act — rather than the word for sheer force. Jesus states it before he gives any instruction, and the next word is “therefore”: the commission is issued out of an authority already granted to him over heaven and earth alike, not out of the disciples' own competence. Daniel 7:14 describes the same handover: “there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.”
Is the phrase “Great Commission” in the Bible?
No. The passage carries no title in the King James Version — the words “Great Commission” appear nowhere in scripture. It is a later name for Matthew 28:18-20, adopted because the passage functions as a commission: an authority, an order, a scope, and a promise, given by the risen Christ to the eleven.
What does “even unto the end of the world” mean?
It renders the Greek for the end, or consummation, of the age — sunteleias tou aiōnos. The KJV uses the same English phrase at Matthew 13:39, 13:49 and 24:3, where the sense is plainly the close of the present age rather than the destruction of the planet. Paired with “alway” (literally “all the days”), the promise covers the whole span of the work the commission gives, without a gap.
Who was the Great Commission given to?
Matthew names the audience precisely: “the eleven disciples” who went into Galilee (28:16) — the twelve less Judas. Christians have historically read it as continuing past that hillside, because the promise attached to it runs “unto the end of the world,” far beyond the lifetime of the men who heard it, and because the same charge is repeated to the same group in Mark, Luke, John and Acts before the church spreads outward in Acts.