Acts — Greek text and reception
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
Saints Translation
Acts
Complete working translation draft, V2, Sep 13, 2026. All 28 chapters and 1002 numbered Greek source entries directly read and independently translated; source sequence and conventional-position coverage audited. Selected edition-apparatus entries and published English patristic passages checked as declared. Independent specialist review remains outstanding.
Text and translation
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, edited by Michael W. Holmes (2010), in the Faithlife electronic repository, public version 1.2. All biblical translation was composed independently after direct Greek reading.
The Greek source contains 1002 numbered entries. Conventional positions 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, and 28:29 have no main-text wording and receive explicit editorial absence notices. Source 19:40 includes the sentence conventionally numbered 19:41; rows 19:40a and 19:40b are explicitly identified as editorial subdivisions, with conventional references separately noted. All 1007 conventional positions are accounted for in 1007 document rows: 1002 source entries, one additional row from the subdivision of source 19:40, and four absence notices. This is not a claim of 1007 numbered Greek source verses.
The three columns contain the source reference, Greek–English translation, and textual or attributed reception notes. There is no Hebrew counterpart for this selected New Testament text. Blank note cells do not imply a comparison classification.
Sources and evidence
All sources listed below were accessed on Sep 8, 2026. The publisher repository identifies public version 1.2, released Jul 10, 2023.
[SBL-ACTS] Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, Acts; Faithlife electronic text
All of Acts 1–28 directly read chapter by chapter and independently translated; all 1002 numbered Greek source entries accounted for.
Direct Greek main-text file; SHA-256 199867a92d9a1ef73abe85986e4489d4799bb187bdd22845f3c168c93cafa9c8
[SBL-ACTS-APP] SBLGNT electronic edition-comparison apparatus, Acts
Selected entries directly read (114 verse locations): 1:10, 1:13, 1:14, 2:30, 2:31, 2:47, 3:6, 3:26, 4:6, 4:25, 4:36, 5:24, 5:28, 5:39, 5:41, 6:3, 6:8, 6:13, 7:30, 7:37, 7:38, 7:43, 7:46, 7:48, 8:5, 8:7, 8:18, 8:22, 8:36, 9:5, 9:6, 9:8, 9:12, 9:20, 9:25, 9:31, 10:12, 10:14, 10:19, 10:30, 10:32, 10:33, 10:48, 11:8, 11:11, 11:12, 11:20, 12:25, 13:20, 13:23, 13:26, 13:33, 13:42, 13:44, 13:48, 15:7, 15:17, 15:18, 15:23, 15:24, 15:29, 15:33, 15:40, 16:7, 16:12, 16:13, 16:17, 16:31, 18:5, 18:7, 18:17, 18:21, 18:25, 18:26, 19:4, 19:9, 19:13, 19:16, 19:33, 19:35, 19:37, 19:40, 20:5, 20:15, 20:21, 20:24, 20:25, 20:28, 20:32, 21:9, 21:22, 21:25, 22:9, 22:16, 22:20, 23:6, 23:8, 23:9, 23:20, 23:30, 24:6, 24:26, 25:6, 26:16, 26:28, 27:14, 27:16, 27:19, 27:37, 27:41, 28:13, 28:16, 28:25, 28:28. This is an edition-comparison apparatus, not manuscript collation; no exhaustive review claimed.
Direct electronic edition apparatus; SHA-256 acf74d492200dd46333f4cb9b245537ac0fe87e4a13504025db6ce5fe7a46411
[SBL-REPO] Faithlife/SBLGNT publisher repository: version and licensing declaration
Readme: source provenance, version history, CC BY 4.0 license.
Publisher source repository
[IREN-3.12] Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.12; Roberts and Rambaut, Ante-Nicene Fathers 1 (1885), New Advent presentation
Sections 7–9 and 14 for the cited reception notes; published English consulted.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CHR-ACTS-7] John Chrysostom, Homily 7 on Acts; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series 11 (1889), New Advent presentation
Exposition of Acts 2:38–45 directly read.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CHR-ACTS-33] John Chrysostom, Homily 33 on Acts; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series 11 (1889), New Advent presentation
Exposition of Acts 15:22–29 directly read.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CHR-ACTS-44] John Chrysostom, Homily 44 on Acts; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series 11 (1889), New Advent presentation
Exposition of Acts 20:18–28 directly read.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CHR-ACTS-55] John Chrysostom, Homily 55 on Acts; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series 11 (1889), New Advent presentation
Exposition of Acts 28:17–31 directly read.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CYR-16] Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 16; Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series 7 (1894), New Advent presentation
Sections 13–15 directly read; cited notes use section 14.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
[CYR-17] Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 17; Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series 7 (1894), New Advent presentation
Selected exposition in sections 14–17, 24–27 and 30 directly read.
Published English patristic text; no Greek/Latin original collation.
Method and editorial decisions
Independent English translation after direct chapter-by-chapter Greek reading; no modern English running base.
Single Greek source: no Hebrew counterpart invented. Reference, English translation, and textual/reception notes form the three columns; comparison categories do not apply.
Clear divine personal pronouns capitalized following the project guide.
Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. Greek source licensed CC BY 4.0; this independently authored English draft is an adaptation from that source.
Every numbered Greek source entry was directly read before its chapter was independently translated. A sequence audit accounts for each once; conventional absence notices and the source 19:40 subdivision are explicitly editorial.
Literal-smooth English preserves the different conversion retellings, Stephen’s historical wording, the selected numerical readings and the narrative’s unresolved tensions. Harmonizing expansions were not inserted.
Editorial checks corrected several awkward English phrases and checked repeated terminology, quotation punctuation, divine capitalization, source coverage and the stated variant notes. This is not an independent human linguistic review.
Apparatus review covers only the 114 listed entry locations. Edition labels are evidence about the apparatus’s comparisons, not claims that the editor examined manuscripts or consulted every named edition independently.
Twenty selective Saints notes are attributed paraphrases of directly read published English passages by Irenaeus, John Chrysostom and Cyril of Jerusalem. No original-language patristic collation or comprehensive reception survey is claimed.
Patristic biblical quotations may differ from SBLGNT: 8:37 and 15:29 are explicitly distinguished. Reception does not replace the declared Greek main text.
Sources follow Michael W. Holmes’s SBLGNT (2010), in the Faithlife repository version 1.2, published on the release date recorded above. Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software; CC BY 4.0: See the license link below.
A second AI reader directly compared 12:25, 13:33, 19:16, 20:28, 21:4, 21:26, 22:9 and 26:16/28 with the Greek main text and found no substantive omission or mistranslation. This additional review covers those nine rows only; it did not re-collate the apparatus or assess the nautical vocabulary.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Apparatus labels: WH, Westcott–Hort; Treg, Tregelles; NA28, Nestle–Aland 28; RP, Robinson–Pierpont; NIV, the apparatus’s NIV-related Greek comparison; TR, its Textus Receptus label. These labels reproduce the electronic comparison; they are not manuscript sigla or claims of independent access to each edition.
Contextual term record
kyrios — Lord / lord / sir / sovereign
Lord for clear divine reference; the address to the angel at 10:4 is sir. The emperor is sovereign at 25:26.
christos — Christ
The anointed one; preserve the title rather than treating every occurrence as a personal surname.
pneuma — Spirit / spirit
Capitalize the Holy Spirit when clear. Preserve ambiguity at 18:25, 19:21 and 20:22 rather than deciding it through typography.
pais — Servant / servant / boy
Servant for Jesus in 3:13, 3:26, 4:27 and 4:30; the term also has child/young-person senses. Do not silently replace it with Son.
doulos / doulē — slave / servant
Preserve household or enslaved status when present; divine service is rendered contextually. The girl at 16:16 is explicitly enslaved.
ekklēsia — Church / assembly
Church for the Christian community; assembly for Israel at 7:38 and the civic gatherings in chapter 19.
archēgos — Author / Leader
Author of life at 3:15; Leader at 5:31. Founding, leading and originating senses overlap.
hadēs — Hades
Retain the ancient designation at 2:27 and 2:31; do not replace it with a later doctrinal paraphrase.
metanoeō / epistrephō — repent / turn
Keep repentance and turning distinct when both are stated; no change of heart inserted as a second unexpressed action.
pistis / pisteuō — faith / believe
Render the stated object and agency. The narrative assertion that Simon believed at 8:13 is retained alongside the later rebuke.
baptizō — baptize
Preserve the water/Spirit distinction and each stated relation to the Name. Subsequent teaching belongs in notes.
Hellēnistēs / Hellēn — Hellenist / Greek
Do not erase the selected lexical difference. Hellenists at 6:1 are distinguished linguistically from Hebrews; 11:20 remains disputed in context.
Hebraïs dialektos — Hebrew language
Preserve the narrative language label at 21:40, 22:2 and 26:14; its possible reference to Aramaic is explained in notes.
presbyteros / episkopos — elder / overseer
Keep the distinct words visible. Acts 20 addresses the elders of 20:17 as overseers in 20:28.
cheirotoneō — appoint
Acts 14:23 does not specify the mechanics of selection sufficiently to insert a congregational vote.
parrēsia — boldness / openly
Public, confident speech according to context; distinguish it from unhindered at 28:31.
psychē — soul / life / person
Life when bodily life is at stake; persons in numerical enumeration; do not force a single English word across contexts.
sebastos — Augustus
Imperial title in 25:21 and 25:25; no identification with the first emperor is implied.
stratēgos / rhabdouchos — magistrate / lictor
Local civic offices at Philippi are distinct from ordinary military officers.
dexiolabos — spearman
Provisional technical rendering at 23:23; the exact troop category remains uncertain.
orgyia — orgyia; plural orgyiai
Ancient arm-span depth measure retained in 27:28; not silently converted into a fixed modern fathom.
skeuos — gear / equipment
The nautical action in 27:17 is kept general; the exact gear lowered remains uncertain.
argyrion — silver
At 19:19 the Greek gives fifty thousand in silver without naming a denomination.
Eurakylōn / Kauda — Euraquilo / Cauda
Retain the selected source’s storm and island names, distinct from the apparatus alternatives.
Melitē — Melite
Retain the ancient island name at 28:1; geographical identification is not inserted into the translation.
barbaros — non-Greek-speaking person
Language distinction in 28:2 and 28:4; the narrative commends the inhabitants’ kindness.
epikoureioi / stōikoi — Epicureans / Stoics
The named philosophical groups in 17:18 remain distinct; Paul’s unnamed poets in 17:28 are not assigned authors without additional evidence.
Review and outstanding questions
Qualified independent Greek review remains outstanding, especially the syntax at 4:25, 8:7, 12:25, 13:33, 19:16, 20:28, 21:26, 23:20 and 26:16/28.
The different statements at 9:7 and 22:9, and the Spirit-related directions at 20:22–23 and 21:4/11, are preserved; further interpretation must distinguish harmonization from translation.
Ancient nautical and administrative terms in chapters 23 and 27–28, chronology in Stephen’s speech and 13:20, and historical/geographical identifications merit specialist review.
Apparatus review and patristic reception are selective. No exhaustive manuscript collation, original-language patristic review or denominational endorsement is claimed.
Collation against Nestle–Aland 28
On 13 September 2026 every verse of this book where the SBLGNT and NA28 differ was identified from the edition marks of Tyndale House's Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0) and the SBLGNT apparatus, and the rendering above was read at each one. 86 verses differ; 13 of them would read differently in English if NA28 were translated instead of the SBLGNT, and each of those carries a note above beginning "NA28". The collation is against TAGNT's edition marks and the SBLGNT apparatus; a printed NA28 apparatus has not been consulted, and NA28's square brackets are inferred, not recorded.
At 2 places the rendering follows a reading other than the SBLGNT it declares: 8:33 (NA28); 21:23 (NA28). Each is marked in its note.