Acts 14:23

14:23 When they had appointed elders ¹  for them in the various churches, ²  with prayer and fasting ³  they entrusted them to the protection ⁴  of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 15:4

15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received ⁵  by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported ⁶  all the things God had done with them. ⁷ 

Titus 1:5

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

¹ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

² tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

³ tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.

⁴ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.

⁵ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

⁶ tn Or “announced.”

⁷ tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.