Acts 6:4

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

Acts 3:1

Peter and John Heal a Lame Man at the Temple

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time ¹  for prayer, ²  at three o’clock in the afternoon. ³ 

Acts 10:31

10:31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity ⁴  have been remembered before God. ⁵ 

Acts 1:14

1:14 All these continued together in prayer with one mind, together with the women, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. ⁶ 

Acts 2:42

The Fellowship of the Early Believers

2:42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, ⁷  to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁸ 

Acts 12:5

12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly ⁹  praying to God for him. ¹⁰ 

Acts 16:13

16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down ¹¹  and began to speak ¹²  to the women ¹³  who had assembled there. ¹⁴ 

Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹⁵  replied, ¹⁶  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ¹⁷  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ¹⁸  have gone up as a memorial ¹⁹  before God.

Acts 16:16

Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison

16:16 Now ²⁰  as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. ²¹  She ²²  brought her owners ²³  a great profit by fortune-telling. ²⁴ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn Grk “hour.”

[3:1]  ² sn Going up to the temple at the time for prayer. The earliest Christians, being of Jewish roots, were still participating in the institutions of Judaism at this point. Their faith in Christ did not make them non-Jewish in their practices.

[3:1]  ³ tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” This is calculated from sunrise (Josephus, Ant. 14.4.3 [14.65]; Dan 9:21).

[10:31]  ¹ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:31]  ² sn This statement is a paraphrase rather than an exact quotation of Acts 10:4.

[1:14]  ¹ sn Jesus’ brothers are mentioned in Matt 13:55 and John 7:3.

[2:42]  ¹ sn Fellowship refers here to close association involving mutual involvement and relationships.

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

[12:5]  ¹ tn Or “constantly.” This term also appears in Luke 22:14 and Acts 26:7.

[12:5]  ² tn Grk “but earnest prayer was being made by the church to God for him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to follow English style, and the somewhat awkward passive “prayer was being made” has been changed to the simpler active verb “were praying.” Luke portrays what follows as an answer to prayer.

[16:13]  ¹ tn Grk “and sitting down we began to speak.” The participle καθίσαντες (kaqisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:13]  ² tn The imperfect verb ἐλαλοῦμεν (elaloumen) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[16:13]  ³ sn To the women. Apparently there were not enough Jews present in Philippi to have a synagogue (ten men would have been required to have one).

[16:13]  ⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ² tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

[10:4]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁴ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:4]  ⁵ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

[16:16]  ¹ 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.

[16:16]  ² tn Or “who had a spirit of divination”; Grk “who had a spirit of Python.” According to BDAG 896-97 s.v. πύθων, originally Πύθων (Puqwn) was the name of the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle. According to Greek mythology, it lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus and was killed by Apollo. From this, the word came to designate a person who was thought to have a spirit of divination. Pagan generals, for example, might consult someone like this. So her presence here suggests a supernatural encounter involving Paul and her “spirit.” W. Foerster, TDNT 6:920, connects the term with ventriloquism but states: “We must assume, however, that for this girl, as for those mentioned by Origen…, the art of ventriloquism was inseparably connected with a (supposed or authentic) gift of soothsaying.” It should also be noted that if the girl in question here were only a ventriloquist, the exorcism performed by Paul in v. 18 would not have been effective.

[16:16]  ³ tn Grk “who.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who had a spirit…who brought her owners a great profit”) the relative pronoun here (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“she”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[16:16]  ⁴ tn Or “masters.”

[16:16]  ⁵ tn On this term see BDAG 616 s.v. μαντεύομαι. It was used of those who gave oracles.