“Men of Israel,⁶⁶ and you Gentiles who fear God,⁶⁷ listen: ^13:17The God of this people Israel⁶⁸ chose our ancestors⁶⁹ and made the people great⁷⁰ during their stay as foreigners⁷¹ in the country⁷² of Egypt, and with uplifted arm⁷³ he led them out of it. ^13:18For⁷⁴ a period of about forty years he put up with⁷⁵ them in the wilderness.⁷⁶^13:19After⁷⁷ he had destroyed⁷⁸ seven nations⁷⁹ in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.⁸⁰^13:20All this took⁸¹ about four hundred fifty years. After this⁸² he gave them judges until the time of⁸³ Samuel the prophet. ^13:21Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled⁸⁴ forty years. ^13:22After removing him, God⁸⁵ raised up⁸⁶ David their king. He testified about him:⁸⁷ ‘I have found David⁸⁸ the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart,⁸⁹ who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’⁹⁰

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Footnotes

64 This participle, ἀναστάς (anastas), and the following one, κατασείσας (kataseisas), are both translated as adverbial participles of attendant circumstance.
65 Or “motioned.”
66 Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context involving an address to a synagogue gathering, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Paul’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.
67 Grk “and those who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, 6:732–34, 743–44.
68 Or “people of Israel.”
69 Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.” Note how Paul identifies with his audience by referring to our ancestors. He speaks as a Jew. God’s design in history is the theme of the speech. The speech is like Stephen’s, only here the focus is on a promised Son of David.
70 That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in ὑψόω 2.
71 Or “as resident aliens.”
72 Or “land.”
73 Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11–12.
74 Grk “And for.” 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.
75 For this verb, see τροποφορέω (cf. also Deut 1:31; Exod 16:35; Num 14:34).
76 Or “desert.”
77 Grk “And after.” 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.
78 The participle καθελών (kathelōn) is taken temporally.
79 Seven nations. See Deut 7:1.
80 Grk “he gave their land as an inheritance.” The words “his people” are supplied to complete an ellipsis specifying the recipients of the land.
81 The words “all this took” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to make a complete statement in English. There is debate over where this period of 450 years fits and what it includes: (1) It could include the years in Egypt, the conquest of Canaan, and the distribution of the land; (2) some connect it with the following period of the judges. This latter approach seems to conflict with 1 Kgs 6:1; see also Josephus, 8.3.1 (8.61).
82 Grk “And after these things.” 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.
83 The words “the time of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
84 The words “who ruled” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. They have been supplied as a clarification for the English reader. See Josephus, 6.14.9 (6.378).
85 Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
86 The expression raised up refers here to making someone king. There is a wordplay here: “raising up” refers to bringing someone onto the scene of history, but it echoes with the parallel to Jesus’ resurrection.
87 Grk “about whom.” The relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) has not been translated (literally “he said testifying”) because it is redundant when combined with the participle μαρτυρήσας (marturēsas, “testifying”). Instead the construction of verb plus participle has been translated as a single English verb (“testified”).
88 A quotation from Ps 89:20.
89 A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14.
90 Or “who will perform all my will,” “who will carry out all my wishes.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years.

“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness; and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’

NLTNew Living Translation

So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.

“The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years.

“After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said, “Israelite men, and those who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for a period of time of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to his people as an inheritance. This took about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And after removing him, he raised up David for their king, about whom he also said, testifying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man in accordance with my heart, who will carry out all my will.’

KJV 1900King James Version

Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said,

Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

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