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.
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.
- BSB In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the 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 5:7He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- Mark 6:46After he had taken leave of them, he went up the mountain to pray.
- Mark 1:35Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.
- Mark 14:34–36He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch.”
- Matt 6:6But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
- Matt 14:23–25After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone.
- Col 4:2Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
- Dan 6:10When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.
- Ps 109:3–4They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
- Ps 22:2My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
- Ps 55:15–17Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.
- Gen 32:24–26Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
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 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.