Isaiah 49:20-22

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ¹ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ² 

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ³ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ⁴ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Acts 2:41

2:41 So those who accepted ⁵  his message ⁶  were baptized, and that day about three thousand people ⁷  were added. ⁸ 

Acts 4:4

4:4 But many of those who had listened to ⁹  the message ¹⁰  believed, and the number of the men ¹¹  came to about five thousand.

Acts 21:20

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ¹²  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ¹³  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹⁴  of the law. ¹⁵ 

Romans 15:18-21

15:18 For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience ¹⁶  of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 15:20 And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation, 15:21 but as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

² tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

³ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

⁴ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

⁵ tn Or “who acknowledged the truth of.”

⁶ tn Grk “word.”

⁷ tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).

⁸ tn Or “were won over.”

⁹ tn Or “had heard.”

¹⁰ tn Or “word.”

¹¹ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.

¹² tn Or “glorified.”

¹³ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

¹⁴ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

¹⁵ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

¹⁶ tn Grk “unto obedience.”

¹⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 52:15.