Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ¹  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Acts 2:42

The Fellowship of the Early Believers

2:42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, ²  to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ³ 

Acts 2:46

2:46 Every day ⁴  they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, ⁵  breaking bread from ⁶  house to house, sharing their food with glad ⁷  and humble hearts, ⁸ 

Acts 4:24-31

4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ⁹  and said, “Master of all, ¹⁰  you who made the heaven, the earth, ¹¹  the sea, and everything that is in them, 4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ¹²  your servant David our forefather, ¹³ 

‘Why do the nations ¹⁴  rage, ¹⁵ 

and the peoples plot foolish ¹⁶  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ¹⁷ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ¹⁸  Christ.’ ¹⁹ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ²⁰  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ²¹  4:28 to do as much as your power ²²  and your plan ²³  had decided beforehand ²⁴  would happen. 4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to ²⁵  their threats, and grant ²⁶  to your servants ²⁷  to speak your message ²⁸  with great courage, ²⁹  4:30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs ³⁰  and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 4:31 When ³¹  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ³²  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ³³  the word of God ³⁴  courageously. ³⁵ 

Acts 6:4

6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Matthew 18:19-20

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, ³⁶  if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ³⁷  18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

Matthew 21:22

21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, ³⁸  you will receive.”

Luke 11:13

11:13 If you then, although you are ³⁹  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ⁴⁰  to those who ask him!”

Luke 18:1

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then ⁴¹  Jesus ⁴²  told them a parable to show them they should always ⁴³  pray and not lose heart. ⁴⁴ 

Luke 24:53

24:53 and were continually in the temple courts ⁴⁵  blessing ⁴⁶  God. ⁴⁷ 

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ⁴⁸  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ⁴⁹  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[2:42]  ² sn Fellowship refers here to close association involving mutual involvement and relationships.

[2:42]  ³ tn Grk “prayers.” This word was translated as a collective singular in keeping with English style.

[2:46]  ⁴ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

[2:46]  ⁵ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[2:46]  ⁶ tn Here κατά (kata) is used as a distributive (BDAG 512 s.v. B.1.d).

[2:46]  ⁷ sn The term glad (Grk “gladness”) often refers to joy brought about by God’s saving acts (Luke 1:14, 44; also the related verb in 1:47; 10:21).

[2:46]  ⁸ tn Grk “with gladness and humbleness of hearts.” It is best to understand καρδίας (kardias) as an attributed genitive, with the two nouns it modifies actually listing attributes of the genitive noun which is related to them.

[4:24]  ⁹ sn With one mind. Compare Acts 1:14.

[4:24]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Lord of all.”

[4:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[4:25]  ¹² tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ¹³ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ¹⁵ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ²⁰ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ²¹ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ²² tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ²³ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ²⁴ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[4:29]  ²⁵ tn Or “Lord, take notice of.”

[4:29]  ²⁶ sn Grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage. The request is not for a stop to persecution or revenge on the opponents, but for boldness (great courage) to carry out the mission of proclaiming the message of what God is doing through Jesus.

[4:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18.

[4:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “word.”

[4:29]  ²⁹ tn Or “with all boldness.”

[4:30]  ³⁰ tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.

[4:31]  ³¹ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[4:31]  ³² sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

[4:31]  ³³ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

[4:31]  ³⁴ tn Or “speak God’s message.”

[4:31]  ³⁵ tn Or “with boldness.”

[18:19]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.

[21:22]  ³⁸ tn Grk “believing”; the participle here is conditional.

[11:13]  ³⁹ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.

[11:13]  ⁴⁰ sn The provision of the Holy Spirit is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. Some apply it to the general provision of the Spirit, but this would seem to look only at one request in a context that speaks of repeated asking. The teaching as a whole stresses not that God gives everything his children want, but that God gives the good that they need. The parallel account in Matthew (7:11) refers to good things where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit.

[18:1]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

[18:1]  ⁴⁴ sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).

[24:53]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “in the temple.”

[24:53]  ⁴⁶ tc The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainounte", “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian mss (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogounte", “blessing”). Most mss, especially the later Byzantine mss, evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C² W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.

[24:53]  ⁴⁷ tc The majority of Greek mss, some of which are important witnesses (A B C² Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (Ì⁷⁵ א C* D L W 1 33 pc it co ), it is evidently not original.

[6:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “and toward it.”