Acts 1:1

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

1:1 I wrote ¹  the former ²  account, ³  Theophilus, ⁴  about all that Jesus began to do and teach

Acts 1:24

1:24 Then they prayed, ⁵  “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen

Acts 3:18

3:18 But the things God foretold ⁶  long ago through ⁷  all the prophets – that his Christ ⁸  would suffer – he has fulfilled in this way.

Acts 9:32

Peter Heals Aeneas

9:32 Now ⁹  as Peter was traveling around from place to place, ¹⁰  he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. ¹¹ 

Acts 10:36

10:36 You know ¹²  the message ¹³  he sent to the people ¹⁴  of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace ¹⁵  through ¹⁶  Jesus Christ ¹⁷  (he is Lord ¹⁸  of all) –

Acts 20:26

20:26 Therefore I declare ¹⁹  to you today that I am innocent ²⁰  of the blood of you all. ²¹ 

Acts 20:37

20:37 They all began to weep loudly, ²²  and hugged ²³  Paul and kissed him, ²⁴ 

Acts 22:12

22:12 A man named Ananias, ²⁵  a devout man according to the law, ²⁶  well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, ²⁷ 

Acts 24:8

24:8 When you examine ²⁸  him yourself, you will be able to learn from him ²⁹  about all these things we are accusing him of doing.” ³⁰ 

Acts 26:2-3

26:2 “Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, ³¹  I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, 26:3 because you are especially ³²  familiar with all the customs and controversial issues ³³  of the Jews. Therefore I ask ³⁴  you to listen to me patiently.

Acts 27:35

27:35 After he said this, Paul ³⁵  took bread ³⁶  and gave thanks to God in front of them all, ³⁷  broke ³⁸  it, and began to eat.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”

[1:1]  ² tn Or “first.” The translation “former” is preferred because “first” could imply to the modern English reader that the author means that his previous account was the first one to be written down. The Greek term πρῶτος (prwtos) does not necessarily mean “first” in an absolute sense, but can refer to the first in a set or series. That is what is intended here – the first account (known as the Gospel of Luke) as compared to the second one (known as Acts).

[1:1]  ³ tn The Greek word λόγος (logos) is sometimes translated “book” (NRSV, NIV) or “treatise” (KJV). A formal, systematic treatment of a subject is implied, but the word “book” may be too specific and slightly misleading to the modern reader, so “account” has been used.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “O Theophilus,” but the usage of the vocative in Acts with ὦ (w) is unemphatic, following more the classical idiom (see ExSyn 69).

[1:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “And praying, they said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[3:18]  ⁹ sn God foretold. Peter’s topic is the working out of God’s plan and promise through events the scriptures also note.

[3:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[3:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[9:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:32]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “As Peter was going through all [the places],” which is somewhat awkward in English. The meaning is best expressed by a phrase like “going around from place to place” or “traveling around from place to place.”

[9:32]  ¹⁵ sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa. It was about 10.5 miles (17 km) southeast of Joppa.

[10:36]  ¹⁷ tn The subject and verb (“you know”) do not actually occur until the following verse, but have been repeated here because of the requirements of English word order.

[10:36]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the word.”

[10:36]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to the sons.”

[10:36]  ²⁰ sn Peace is a key OT concept: Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; also for Luke: Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 9:31. See also the similar phrase in Eph 2:17.

[10:36]  ²¹ tn Or “by.”

[10:36]  ²² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:36]  ²³ sn He is Lord of all. Though a parenthetical remark, this is the theological key to the speech. Jesus is Lord of all, so the gospel can go to all. The rest of the speech proclaims Jesus’ authority.

[20:26]  ²¹ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ²² tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ²³ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:37]  ²⁵ tn Grk “weeping a great deal,” thus “loudly” (BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός and BDAG 546 s.v. κλαυθμός).

[20:37]  ²⁶ tn Grk “fell on Paul’s neck” (an idiom, see BDAG 1014 s.v. τράχηλος).

[20:37]  ²⁷ sn The Ephesians elders kissed Paul as a sign of both affection and farewell. The entire scene shows how much interrelationship Paul had in his ministry and how much he and the Ephesians meant to each other.

[22:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a certain Ananias.”

[22:12]  ³⁰ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[22:12]  ³¹ tn BDAG 534 s.v. κατοικέω 1.a translates this present participle “ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν (sc. ἐκεῖ) κατοικούντων ᾿Ιουδαίων by all the Jews who live there Ac 22:12.”

[24:8]  ³³ tn Or “question.”

[24:8]  ³⁴ tn Grk “From whom when you examine him yourself, you will be able to learn…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

[24:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “about all these things of which we are accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“of which”) in the translation.

[26:2]  ³⁷ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:3]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 613 s.v. μάλιστα 1 states, “μ. γνώστην ὄντα σε since you are outstandingly familiar Ac 26:3.”

[26:3]  ⁴² tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

[26:3]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 218 s.v. δέομαι states, “In our lit. only w. the mng. to ask for something pleadingly, ask, request,” and then in section a.α states, “w. inf. foll.…Ac 26:3.”

[27:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:35]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “taking bread, gave thanks.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:35]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “before them all,” but here this could be misunderstood to indicate a temporal sequence.

[27:35]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and breaking it, he began.” The participle κλάσας (klasas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.