In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.
Parallel translations
- WEB In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.
- KJV And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
- NKJV Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
- NASB Now it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer with God.
- NLT One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.
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 spends the whole night in prayer before choosing his apostles. He seeks the Father's guidance for a crucial decision.
Overview
Before the weighty choice of the Twelve, Jesus withdraws to a mountain and prays all night. Luke again emphasizes his dependence on the Father in prayer, especially at decisive moments. The pattern teaches that significant choices in God's work should be bathed in prayer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Heb 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Mark 6:46After bidding them farewell, He went up on the mountain to pray.
- Mark 1:35Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.
- Mark 14:34–36Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.”
- Matt 6:6But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
- Matt 14:23–25After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone,
- Col 4:2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
- Dan 6:10Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
- Ps 109:3–4They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
- Ps 22:2I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.
- Ps 55:15–17Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.
- Gen 32:24–26So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 6:12 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.