Acts 2:17

2:17 ‘And in the last days ¹  it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, ² 

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 4:10

4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ ³  the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.

Acts 5:4

5:4 Before it was sold, ⁴  did it not ⁵  belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money ⁶  not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? ⁷  You have not lied to people ⁸  but to God!”

Acts 7:35

7:35 This same ⁹  Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ ¹⁰  God sent as both ruler and deliverer ¹¹  through the hand of the angel ¹²  who appeared to him in the bush.

Acts 10:28

10:28 He said to them, “You know that ¹³  it is unlawful ¹⁴  for a Jew ¹⁵  to associate with or visit a Gentile, ¹⁶  yet God has shown me that I should call no person ¹⁷  defiled or ritually unclean. ¹⁸ 

Acts 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹⁹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ²⁰  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ²¹  of eternal life, we ²²  are turning to the Gentiles. ²³ 

Acts 14:15

14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures ²⁴  just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn ²⁵  from these worthless ²⁶  things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, ²⁷  the sea, and everything that is in them.

Acts 15:7

15:7 After there had been much debate, ²⁸  Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago ²⁹  God chose ³⁰  me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message ³¹  of the gospel ³²  and believe. ³³ 

Acts 22:3

22:3 “I am a Jew, ³⁴  born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up ³⁵  in this city, educated with strictness ³⁶  under ³⁷  Gamaliel ³⁸  according to the law of our ancestors, ³⁹  and was ⁴⁰  zealous ⁴¹  for God just as all of you are today.

Acts 26:18

26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ⁴²  from darkness to light and from the power ⁴³  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ⁴⁴  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Acts 28:23

28:23 They set ⁴⁵  a day to meet with him, ⁴⁶  and they came to him where he was staying ⁴⁷  in even greater numbers. ⁴⁸  From morning until evening he explained things ⁴⁹  to them, ⁵⁰  testifying ⁵¹  about the kingdom of God ⁵²  and trying to convince ⁵³  them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

[2:17]  ¹ sn The phrase in the last days is not quoted from Joel, but represents Peter’s interpretive explanation of the current events as falling “in the last days.”

[2:17]  ² tn Grk “on all flesh.”

[4:10]  ³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “Remaining to you.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.

[5:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.

[7:35]  ⁷ sn This same. The reference to “this one” occurs five times in this speech. It is the way the other speeches in Acts refer to Jesus (e.g., Acts 2:23).

[7:35]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see Acts 7:27). God saw Moses very differently than the people of the nation did. The reference to a ruler and a judge suggests that Stephen set up a comparison between Moses and Jesus, but he never finished his speech to make the point. The reader of Acts, however, knowing the other sermons in the book, recognizes that the rejection of Jesus is the counterpoint.

[7:35]  ⁹ tn Or “liberator.” The meaning “liberator” for λυτρωτήν (lutrwthn) is given in L&N 37.129: “a person who liberates or releases others.”

[7:35]  ¹⁰ tn Or simply “through the angel.” Here the “hand” could be understood as a figure for the person or the power of the angel himself. The remark about the angel appearing fits the first century Jewish view that God appears to no one (John 1:14-18; Gal 3:19; Deut 33:2 LXX).

[10:28]  ⁹ tn Here ὡς (Jws) is used like ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect discourse (cf. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5).

[10:28]  ¹⁰ tn This term is used of wanton or callously lawless acts (BDAG 24 s.v. ἀθέμιτος).

[10:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “a Jewish man” (ἀνδρὶ ᾿Ιουδαίῳ, andri Ioudaiw).

[10:28]  ¹² tn Grk “a foreigner,” but in this context, “a non-Jew,” that is, a Gentile. This term speaks of intimate association (BDAG 556 s.v. κολλάω 2.b.α). On this Jewish view, see John 18:28, where a visit to a Gentile residence makes a Jewish person unclean.

[10:28]  ¹³ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[10:28]  ¹⁴ tn Possibly there is a subtle distinction in meaning between κοινός (koinos) and ἀκάθαρτος (akaqartos) here, but according to L&N 53.39 it is difficult to determine precise differences in meaning based on existing contexts.

[13:46]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ¹² tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ¹³ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ¹⁵ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[14:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “with the same nature τινί as someone.” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrefein) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9-10.

[14:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator (Rom 1:18-32). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26; 2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5; 8:19; 3 Macc 6:11.

[14:15]  ¹⁶ 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.

[15:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.

[15:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”

[15:7]  ¹⁷ sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.

[15:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “word.”

[15:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “of the good news.”

[15:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.

[22:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

[22:3]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, train…ἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tou" poda" Gamalihl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tauth), has been followed in the translation.

[22:3]  ²² tn Or “our forefathers.”

[22:3]  ²³ tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:3]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers. …ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”

[26:18]  ¹⁹ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ²¹ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

[28:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:23]  ²² tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[28:23]  ²³ tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”

[28:23]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁵ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[28:23]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:23]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁸ sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.

[28:23]  ²⁹ tn Or “persuade.”