Acts 9:4-5

9:4 He ¹  fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ²  why are you persecuting me?” ³  9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!

Acts 9:10-11

9:10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The ⁴  Lord ⁵  said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” and he replied, “Here I am, ⁶  Lord.” 9:11 Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ ⁷  and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ⁸  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ⁹ 

Acts 10:36

10:36 You know ¹⁰  the message ¹¹  he sent to the people ¹²  of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace ¹³  through ¹⁴  Jesus Christ ¹⁵  (he is Lord ¹⁶  of all) –

Acts 22:14

22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ¹⁷  has already chosen ¹⁸  you to know his will, to see ¹⁹  the Righteous One, ²⁰  and to hear a command ²¹  from his mouth,

Acts 26:15

26:15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, ²²  ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

Luke 1:16-17

1:16 He ²³  will turn ²⁴  many of the people ²⁵  of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ²⁶  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ²⁷  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Luke 1:76

1:76 And you, child, ²⁸  will be called the prophet ²⁹  of the Most High. ³⁰ 

For you will go before ³¹  the Lord to prepare his ways, ³² 

Luke 2:11

2:11 Today ³³  your Savior is born in the city ³⁴  of David. ³⁵  He is Christ ³⁶  the Lord.

Luke 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ³⁷  in those days a decree ³⁸  went out from Caesar ³⁹  Augustus ⁴⁰  to register ⁴¹  all the empire ⁴²  for taxes.

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[9:4]  ¹ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[9:4]  ² tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

[9:4]  ³ sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “And the.” 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.

[9:10]  ⁵ sn The Lord is directing all the events leading to the expansion of the gospel as he works on both sides of the meeting between Paul and Ananias. “The Lord” here refers to Jesus (see v. 17).

[9:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[9:11]  ⁷ sn The noting of the detail of the locale, ironically called ‘Straight’ Street, shows how directive and specific the Lord was.

[9:15]  ⁸ tn Or “tool.”

[9:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

[10:36]  ¹⁰ tn The subject and verb (“you know”) do not actually occur until the following verse, but have been repeated here because of the requirements of English word order.

[10:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the word.”

[10:36]  ¹² tn Grk “to the sons.”

[10:36]  ¹³ sn Peace is a key OT concept: Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; also for Luke: Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 9:31. See also the similar phrase in Eph 2:17.

[10:36]  ¹⁴ tn Or “by.”

[10:36]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:36]  ¹⁶ sn He is Lord of all. Though a parenthetical remark, this is the theological key to the speech. Jesus is Lord of all, so the gospel can go to all. The rest of the speech proclaims Jesus’ authority.

[22:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[22:14]  ¹⁸ tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”

[22:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and to see.” 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.

[22:14]  ²⁰ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

[22:14]  ²¹ tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (… = order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”

[26:15]  ²² tn Grk “said.”

[1:16]  ²³ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:16]  ²⁴ sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

[1:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ²⁷ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[1:76]  ²⁸ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ²⁹ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

[1:76]  ³⁰ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ³¹ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

[1:76]  ³² tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.

[2:11]  ³³ sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ³⁴ tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ³⁵ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:1]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.