Acts 1:24

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

Acts 14:23

14:23 When they had appointed elders ²  for them in the various churches, ³  with prayer and fasting ⁴  they entrusted them to the protection ⁵  of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 16:25

16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying ⁶  and singing hymns to God, ⁷  and the rest of ⁸  the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 22:17

22:17 When ⁹  I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁰ 

[1:24]  ¹ 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.

[14:23]  ² sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

[14:23]  ³ tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

[14:23]  ⁴ 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.

[14:23]  ⁵ 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.

[16:25]  ³ tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:25]  ⁴ sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).

[16:25]  ⁵ tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[22:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “It happened to me 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.

[22:17]  ⁵ tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἔκστασις 2 has “γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκστάσει fall into a trance Ac 22:17.”