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Acts 4:17–21

17 “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man ain this name.”

18 And when they had summoned them, they acommanded them not to speak or teach at all 1in the name of Jesus.

19 But aPeter and John answered and said to them, “bWhether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

20 for awe cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) aon account of the people, because they were all bglorifying God for what had happened;

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Acts 4:17–21 — The New International Version (NIV)

17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

Acts 4:17–21 — English Standard Version (ESV)

17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

Acts 4:17–21 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.

Acts 4:17–21 — New Living Translation (NLT)

17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God

Acts 4:17–21 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.

Acts 4:17–21 — New Century Version (NCV)

17 But to keep it from spreading among the people, we must warn them not to talk to people anymore using that name.”

18 So they called Peter and John in again and told them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “You decide what God would want. Should we obey you or God? 20 We cannot keep quiet. We must speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21 The leaders warned the apostles again and let them go free. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had been done.

Acts 4:17–21 — American Standard Version (ASV)

17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 And they called them, and charged them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: 20 for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard. 21 And they, when they had further threatened them, let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people; for all men glorified God for that which was done.

Acts 4:17–21 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

17 But that it be not further spread among the people, let us threaten them severely no longer to speak to any man in this name. 18 And having called them, they charged them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answering said to them, If it be righteous before God to listen to you rather than to God, judge ye; 20 for as for us we cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard. 21 But they, having further threatened them, let them go, finding no way how they might punish them, on account of the people, because all glorified God for what had taken place;

Acts 4:17–21 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

17 So let’s threaten them. Let’s tell them that they must never speak to anyone about the one named Jesus. Then the news about the miracle that they have performed will not spread any further among the people.” 

18 They called Peter and John and ordered them never to teach about Jesus or even mention his name. 

19 Peter and John answered them, “Decide for yourselves whether God wants people to listen to you rather than to him. 20 We cannot stop talking about what we’ve seen and heard.” 

21 The authorities threatened them even more and then let them go. Since all the people were praising God for what had happened, the authorities couldn’t find any way to punish Peter and John.

Acts 4:17–21 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

17 However, so this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” 18 So they called for them and ordered them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

21 After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them, because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done;

Acts 4:17–21 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

17 But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.

Acts 4:17–21 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

17 But in order that it may not spread much further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more in this name to anyone at all.” 18 And they called them back and commanded them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you decide! 20 For we are not able to refrain from speaking about the things that we have seen and heard.” 21 So after threatening them further, they released them, finding no way to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened.

Acts 4:17–21 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

17 We have to stop this thing. It must not spread any further among the people. We have to warn these men. They must never speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

18 Once again the leaders called in Peter and John. They commanded them not to speak or teach at all in Jesus’ name. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves. Which is right from God’s point of view? Should we obey you? Or God? 20 There’s nothing else we can do. We have to speak about the things we’ve seen and heard.”

21 The leaders warned them again. Then they let them go. They couldn’t decide how to punish Peter and John. They knew that all the people were praising God for what had happened.


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