Acts 20:31

20:31 Therefore be alert, ¹  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ²  each one of you with tears.

Psalms 134:1-2

Psalm 134 ³ 

A song of ascents. ⁴ 

134:1 Attention! ⁵  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve ⁶  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary

and praise the Lord!

Psalms 135:2

135:2 who serve ⁷  in the Lord’s temple,

in the courts of the temple of our God.

Luke 2:36-37

The Testimony of Anna

2:36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, ⁸  having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ⁹  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ¹⁰ 

Luke 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ¹¹  in those days a decree ¹²  went out from Caesar ¹³  Augustus ¹⁴  to register ¹⁵  all the empire ¹⁶  for taxes.

Luke 3:10

3:10 So ¹⁷  the crowds were asking ¹⁸  him, “What then should we do?”

Luke 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹⁹  when Pontius Pilate ²⁰  was governor of Judea, and Herod ²¹  was tetrarch ²²  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ²³  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ²⁴  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Luke 5:5

5:5 Simon ²⁵  answered, ²⁶  “Master, ²⁷  we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word ²⁸  I will lower ²⁹  the nets.”

[20:31]  ¹ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ² tn Or “admonishing.”

[134:1]  ³ sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

[134:1]  ⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[134:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look!”

[134:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “stand.”

[135:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand.”

[2:36]  ⁸ tn Her age is emphasized by the Greek phrase here, “she was very old in her many days.”

[2:37]  ⁹ tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ¹⁰ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Now it happened 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.

[2:1]  ¹² sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ¹⁴ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

[3:10]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ¹⁸ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.

[3:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  ²⁰ sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ²¹ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ²² sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ²³ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ²⁴ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[5:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And Simon.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “answering, Simon said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation to “Simon answered.”

[5:5]  ²⁷ tn The word ἐπιστάτης is a term of respect for a person of high status (see L&N 87.50).

[5:5]  ²⁸ tn The expression “at your word,” which shows Peter’s obedience, stands first in the Greek clause for emphasis.

[5:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “let down.”