Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
- BSB Therefore Jesus told them, “Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come.
- NKJV Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
- NASB So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready.
- NLT Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus replies that His time has not yet come, but their time is always ready. He acts according to the Father's appointed timing, not human pressure.
Overview
Jesus distinguishes His divinely set 'time' from the brothers' freedom to come and go as they please. His path to public revelation and ultimately the cross follows the Father's schedule alone. The verse displays Jesus's perfect submission to the Father's plan, refusing to be moved by worldly counsel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 7:8Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.
- John 2:4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
- John 7:30Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.
- John 17:1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
- John 13:1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
- John 8:20These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
- Matt 26:18And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
- Acts 1:7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
- Ps 102:13Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
- Eccl 3:1–15To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 7:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.