Acts 4
The full text of Acts 4 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 While Peter and John were still speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to them,
2 deeply annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
3 They seized them and held them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.
4 But many who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,
6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were from the high-priestly family.
7 They stood them in the middle and began to question them: "By what power or in what name did you do this?"
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers of the people and elders,
9 if we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he has been healed,
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man stands before you healthy.
11 This Jesus is "the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone."
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.
13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were amazed and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say against it.
15 So they ordered them to leave the council, and they conferred with one another,
16 saying, "What are we to do with these men? For it is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable sign has been done through them, and we cannot deny it.
17 But to keep it from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in this name."
18 And they called them in and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God.
20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
21 After threatening them further, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people—for everyone was praising God for what had happened.
22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, they went to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said: "Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant: "Why did the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed One."
27 Indeed, in this city they did gather together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed—Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel—
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had decided beforehand should happen.
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant your servants to speak your word with all boldness,
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31 After they prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.
34 There were no needy persons among them, for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales,
35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"),
37 sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Translation notes (9)
- Acts 4:6a Annas held the high priesthood from AD 6 to 15, when the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus deposed him; his son-in-law Caiaphas held the office at this time (Josephus, Antiquities 18). Luke's continued use of the title for Annas reflects his lasting authority within the priestly aristocracy, here called those ek genous archieratikou, 'of high-priestly descent'.
- Acts 4:9a The verb rendered here as 'healed' is sesōstai, a form of sōzō (σῴζω), which means both 'healed' and 'saved'. Peter exploits this double sense: the man's physical restoration in verse 10 leads directly to the claim of salvation in verse 12, where the same verb recurs. The opening verb anakrinometha, 'we are being examined', is a judicial term for formal interrogation.
- Acts 4:11a The citation is Psalm 118:22, but Peter's wording departs from the Septuagint: exouthenētheis (ἐξουθενηθείς), 'treated as nothing', replaces the milder verb for rejection, sharpening the charge against his hearers. The phrase kephalēn gōnias (κεφαλὴν γωνίας), literally 'head of the corner', denotes the stone that anchors and aligns the whole structure.
- Acts 4:13a The Greek phrase agrammatoi kai idiōtai, 'unlettered and untrained', describes men lacking formal rabbinic education, not illiteracy in the modern sense; idiōtēs denotes a layman or nonspecialist. The council's amazement concerns their parrēsia, 'boldness', a freedom of speech unexpected in those without scribal credentials.
- Acts 4:22a The phrase rendered 'miraculously healed' is literally 'this sign of healing' (to semeion touto tes iaseos), Luke's characteristic term for a miracle that authenticates the apostolic message. The notice of the man's age, taken with his lameness from birth (Acts 3:2), stresses that a condition of more than forty years' standing admitted no natural recovery.
- Acts 4:25a The Greek text introducing this quotation is grammatically complex and is widely considered to be a corrupted text; different manuscripts and editions reconstruct it in various ways. The quotation itself is from Psalm 2:1.
- Acts 4:27a The Greek pais (παῖς), 'servant', can also mean 'child', but here it echoes the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah, a title the early church applied to Jesus (compare Acts 3:13, 26). The verb echrisas, 'you anointed', identifies Jesus as the 'Anointed One' of Psalm 2, quoted in the preceding verse.
- Acts 4:32a Greek kardia kai psychē mia, 'one heart and soul', echoes a classical ideal of friendship; Aristotle describes friends as 'one soul' (Nicomachean Ethics 9.8), and the proverb koina ta philōn, 'friends hold all things in common', appears in Plato and Aristotle. Luke presents the community as realizing an ideal his Greco-Roman readers would recognize, here grounded in the Spirit rather than in friendship alone.
- Acts 4:36a Luke glosses the Aramaic name with the Greek phrase huios parakleseos (υἱὸς παρακλήσεως), 'son of encouragement'. The noun paraklesis spans encouragement, exhortation, and consolation, and Luke's gloss anticipates Barnabas's role as advocate and encourager in Acts 9 and 11. The Aramaic etymology itself is debated; bar means 'son', but the second element is uncertain.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Greek and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Acts, is free to read here on the web.
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