Acts 1:20

1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, ¹  and let there be no one to live in it,’ ²  and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’ ³ 

Acts 7:42

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ⁴  to worship the host ⁵  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ⁶  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ⁷  house of Israel?

Acts 18:27

18:27 When Apollos ⁸  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ⁹  the brothers encouraged ¹⁰  him ¹¹  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ¹²  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ¹³  the God of our ancestors ¹⁴  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ¹⁵  and that is written in the prophets.

¹ tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”

² sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.

³ tn Or “Let another take his office.”

⁴ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

⁵ tn Or “stars.”

⁶ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

⁷ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.

⁹ tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protreyamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.

¹⁰ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹¹ tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.

¹⁰ tn Or “serve.”

¹¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹² sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.