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 9:39

9:39 So Peter got up and went with them, and ⁴  when he arrived ⁵  they brought him to the upper room. All ⁶  the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him ⁷  the tunics ⁸  and other clothing ⁹  Dorcas used to make ¹⁰  while she was with them.

Acts 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹¹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ¹²  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ¹³  of eternal life, we ¹⁴  are turning to the Gentiles. ¹⁵ 

Acts 14:15

14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures ¹⁶  just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn ¹⁷  from these worthless ¹⁸  things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, ¹⁹  the sea, and everything that is in them.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ²⁰  and Stoic ²¹  philosophers were conversing ²²  with him, and some were asking, ²³  “What does this foolish babbler ²⁴  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²⁵  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²⁶ 

Acts 21:11

21:11 He came ²⁷  to us, took ²⁸  Paul’s belt, ²⁹  tied ³⁰  his own hands and feet with it, ³¹  and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over ³²  to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ³³  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ³⁴  and this sanctuary! ³⁵  Furthermore ³⁶  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ³⁷  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ³⁸ 

Acts 23:21

23:21 So do not let them persuade you to do this, ³⁹  because more than forty of them ⁴⁰  are lying in ambush ⁴¹  for him. They ⁴²  have bound themselves with an oath ⁴³  not to eat or drink anything ⁴⁴  until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.” ⁴⁵ 

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ⁴⁶  Paul ⁴⁷  called the local Jewish leaders ⁴⁸  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ⁴⁹  although I had done ⁵⁰  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ⁵¹  from Jerusalem ⁵²  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ⁵³ 

[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.”

[9:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “who.” The relative clause makes for awkward English style here, so the following clause was made coordinate with the conjunction “and” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun.

[9:39]  ⁶ tn The participle παραγενόμενον (paragenomenon) is taken temporally.

[9:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “and all.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[9:39]  ⁸ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[9:39]  ⁹ tn Or “shirts” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[9:39]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and garments,” referring here to other types of clothing besides the tunics just mentioned.

[9:39]  ¹¹ tn The verb ἐποίει (epoiei) has been translated as a customary imperfect.

[13:46]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ¹¹ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[17:18]  ¹¹ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ¹² sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ¹³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “And coming.” 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. The participle ἐλθών (elqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and taking.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. The participle ἄρας (aras) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ¹⁵ sn The belt was a band or sash used to keep money as well as to gird up the tunic (BDAG 431 s.v. ζώνη).

[21:11]  ¹⁶ tn The participle δήσας (dhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ¹⁷ tn The words “with it” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[21:11]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and will deliver him over into the hands of” (a Semitic idiom).

[21:28]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ¹⁶ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ²⁰ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[23:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “do not be persuaded by them.” The passive construction μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς (mh peisqh" autoi") has been converted to an active construction in the translation, and the phrase “to do this” supplied to indicate more clearly the object of their persuasion.

[23:21]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “forty men of them.” In the expression ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες (ex autwn andre") “men” is somewhat redundant and has not been included in the English translation.

[23:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “are lying in wait for him” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνεδρεύω); see also v. 16.

[23:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “for him, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:21]  ²¹ tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone… ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.”

[23:21]  ²² tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[23:21]  ²³ tn Grk “waiting for your approval,” “waiting for your agreement.” Since it would be possible to misunderstand the literal translation “waiting for your approval” to mean that the Jews were waiting for the commander’s approval to carry out their plot or to kill Paul (as if he were to be an accomplice to their plot), the object of the commander’s approval (their request to bring Paul to the council) has been specified in the translation as “their request.”

[28:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” 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.

[28:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:17]  ²¹ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

[28:17]  ²² tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[28:17]  ²³ tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[28:17]  ²⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:17]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”