Acts 1:5

1:5 For ¹  John baptized with water, but you ²  will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 2:15

2:15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, ³  for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ⁴ 

Acts 2:27

2:27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, ⁵ 

nor permit your Holy One to experience ⁶  decay.

Acts 5:22

5:22 But the officers ⁷  who came for them ⁸  did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ⁹ 

Acts 5:39

5:39 but if ¹⁰  it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found ¹¹  fighting against God.” He convinced them, ¹² 

Acts 5:42

5:42 And every day both in the temple courts ¹³  and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news ¹⁴  that Jesus was the Christ. ¹⁵ 

Acts 10:34

10:34 Then Peter started speaking: ¹⁶  “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, ¹⁷ 

Acts 12:18

12:18 At daybreak ¹⁸  there was great consternation ¹⁹  among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

Acts 16:21

16:21 and are advocating ²⁰  customs that are not lawful for us to accept ²¹  or practice, ²²  since we are ²³  Romans.”

Acts 17:12

17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few ²⁴  prominent ²⁵  Greek women and men.

Acts 19:24

19:24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines ²⁶  of Artemis, ²⁷  brought a great deal ²⁸  of business ²⁹  to the craftsmen.

Acts 20:31

20:31 Therefore be alert, ³⁰  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ³¹  each one of you with tears.

Acts 26:25

26:25 But Paul replied, ³²  “I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, ³³  but am speaking ³⁴  true and rational ³⁵  words.

Acts 28:19

28:19 But when the Jews objected, ³⁶  I was forced to appeal to Caesar ³⁷  – not that I had some charge to bring ³⁸  against my own people. ³⁹ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn In the Greek text v. 5 is a continuation of the previous sentence, which is long and complicated. In keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:5]  ² tn The pronoun is plural in Greek.

[2:15]  ³ tn Grk “These men are not drunk, as you suppose.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “only the third hour.”

[2:27]  ⁵ tn Or “will not abandon my soul to Hades.” Often “Hades” is the equivalent of the Hebrew term Sheol, the place of the dead.

[2:27]  ⁶ tn Grk “to see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “to see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “to look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants, like attendants to a king, the officers of the Sanhedrin (as here), assistants to magistrates, and (especially in the Gospel of John) Jewish guards in the Jerusalem temple (see L&N 35.20).

[5:22]  ⁸ tn The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[5:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[5:39]  ⁹ tn This is expressed in a first class condition, in contrast to the condition in v. 38b, which is third class. As such, v. 39 is rhetorically presented as the more likely option.

[5:39]  ¹⁰ tn According to L&N 39.32, the verb εὑρεθῆτε (Jeureqhte, an aorist passive subjunctive) may also be translated “find yourselves” – “lest you find yourselves fighting against God.” The Jewish leader Gamaliel is shown contemplating the other possible alternative about what is occurring.

[5:39]  ¹¹ tn Grk “They were convinced by him.” This passive construction was converted to an active one (“He convinced them”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The phrase “He convinced them” is traditionally placed in Acts 5:40 by most English translations; the standard Greek critical text (represented by NA²⁷ and UBS⁴) places it at the end of v. 39.

[5:42]  ¹¹ tn Grk “temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper and has been translated accordingly.

[5:42]  ¹² tn Grk “teaching and evangelizing.” They were still obeying God, not men (see 4:18-20; 5:29).

[5:42]  ¹³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “Opening his mouth Peter said” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “God is not one who is a respecter of persons,” that is, “God is not one to show partiality” (cf. BDAG 887 s.v. προσωπολήμπτης). L&N 88.239 translates this verse “I realize that God does not show favoritism (in dealing with people).” The underlying Hebrew idiom includes the personal element (“respecter of persons”) so the phrase “in dealing with people” is included in the present translation. It fits very well with the following context and serves to emphasize the relational component of God’s lack of partiality. The latter is a major theme in the NT: Rom 2:11; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:25; Jas 2:1; 1 Pet 1:17. This was the lesson of Peter’s vision.

[12:18]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a has “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (Jhmera ginetai) in this verse.

[12:18]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “no little consternation.” The translation given for τάραχος (taraco") in this verse by BDAG 991 s.v. τάραχος 1 is “mental agitation.” The situation indicated by the Greek word is described in L&N 25.243 as “a state of acute distress and great anxiety, with the additional possible implications of dismay and confusion – ‘great distress, extreme anxiety.’” The English word “consternation” is preferred here because it conveys precisely such a situation of anxiety mixed with fear. The reason for this anxiety is explained in the following verse.

[16:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “proclaiming,” but in relation to customs, “advocating” is a closer approximation to the meaning.

[16:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “acknowledge.”

[16:21]  ¹⁹ sn Customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice. Ironically, the charges are similar to those made against Jesus in Luke 23:2, where Jews argued he was “twisting” their customs. The charge has three elements: (1) a racial element (Jewish); (2) a social element (unlawful); and (3) a traditional element (not their customs).

[16:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “we being Romans.” The participle οὖσιν (ousin) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[17:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[17:12]  ²⁰ tn Or “respected.”

[19:24]  ²¹ tn BDAG 665 s.v. ναός 1.a states, “Specif. of temples: of replicas of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus 19:24…but here, near ἱερόν vs. 27…ναός can be understood in the more restricted sense shrine, where the image of the goddess stood.”

[19:24]  ²² sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:24]  ²³ tn Grk “brought not a little business” (an idiom).

[19:24]  ²⁴ sn A great deal of business. The charge that Christianity brought economic and/or social upheaval was made a number of times in Acts: 16:20-21; 17:6-7; 18:13.

[20:31]  ²³ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “admonishing.”

[26:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “said.”

[26:25]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:25]  ²⁷ tn Or “declaring.” BDAG 125 s.v. ἀποφθέγγομαι states, “speak out, declare boldly or loudly…τὶ: σωφροσύνης ῥήματα Ac 26:25.”

[26:25]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 987 s.v. σωφροσύνη 1 has “gener. soundness of mind, reasonableness, rationality…ἀληθείας καὶ σωφροσύνης ῥήματα true and rational words (opp. μαίνομαι) Ac 26:25.”

[28:19]  ²⁷ tn That is, objected to my release.

[28:19]  ²⁸ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[28:19]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context – ‘to accuse, to bring charges.’”

[28:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “my own nation.”