Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Parallel translations
- WEB saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
- BSB “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- NKJV saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
- NASB saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- NLT “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
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 asks the Father to remove the cup, yet submits, 'not my will, but yours, be done.' It is the supreme model of obedient surrender.
Overview
The 'cup' represents the suffering and wrath Jesus must bear on the cross, and His honest plea shows the real cost of redemption. Yet His full submission to the Father's will reveals perfect obedience where Adam and all humanity failed. This surrender secures salvation and teaches believers how to pray amid suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- John 12:27–28Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
- Matt 26:39And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
- Matt 26:42He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
- Mark 14:36And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
- Ps 40:8I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
- John 18:11Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
- Matt 20:22But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
- John 5:30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
- John 6:38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
- Heb 10:7–10Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
- John 4:34Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
- Luke 22:17–20And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
- Isa 51:22Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
- Matt 26:44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
- Jer 25:15For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
- Isa 51:17Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
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
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 22:42 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.