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And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Luke 22:46 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
  • BSB “Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”
  • NKJV Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
  • NASB and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation.”
  • NLT “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

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 wakes the disciples and urges them again to rise and pray against temptation. He repeats His call to watchful prayer.

Overview

Jesus gently rouses His sleeping disciples and renews His command to pray. His persistence shows His concern for their spiritual safety even amid His own distress. The repeated exhortation underscores that prayer is the appointed means of standing firm when testing comes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Luke 22:40And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
  • Jonah 1:6So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
  • Luke 21:34–36And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
  • Prov 6:4–11Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 22:46YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 22:46 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.