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Acts 2:8-11

How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”

World English Bible · Public Domain
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Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!” They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    How do we hear, everyone in our own native language?

    Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,

    Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

    Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    And how heare we every man his awne touge wherein we were boren?

    Parthians Medes and Elamytes and the inhabiters of Mesopotamia of Iury and of Capadocia of Ponthus and Asia

    Phrigia Pamphilia and of Egypte and of the parties of Libia which is besyde Syrene and straungers of Rome Iewes and convertes

    Grekes and Arabians: we have herde them speake with oure awne tonges the greate workes of God.

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  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    How then heare we euery man our owne language, wherein we were borne?

    Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, and of Iudea, and of Cappadocia, of Pontus, and Asia,

    And of Phrygia, and Pamphylia, of Egypt, and of the partes of Libya, which is beside Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, and Iewes, and Proselytes,

    Creetes, and Arabians: wee hearde them speake in our owne tongues the wonderful works of God.

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Cross-references (91)

  • 1 Peter 1:1 (v9) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,…
  • Exodus 15:11 (v11) Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
  • 1 Corinthians 12:10 (v11) and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of…
  • Acts 16:6 (vv9–10) When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
  • Acts 18:2 (vv9–10) He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius…
Show all 88 cross-references
  • Job 9:10 (v11) He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number.
  • Psalms 26:7 (v11) that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
  • Psalms 78:4 (v11) We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds…
  • Jeremiah 25:24 (v11) and all the kings of Arabia, all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness;
  • Zechariah 8:23 (v10) Yahweh of Armies says: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of…
  • 2 Timothy 1:15 (v9) This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
  • Titus 1:12 (v11) One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.”
  • Hebrews 2:4 (v11) God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own…
  • Revelation 1:4 (v9) John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven…
  • Acts 6:9 (vv9–10) But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and…
  • Genesis 14:1 (v9) In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim,
  • Genesis 24:10 (v9) The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to…
  • 1 Kings 10:15 (v11) in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the…
  • 2 Kings 17:6 (v9) In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the…
  • 2 Chronicles 17:11 (v11) Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute. The Arabians also brought him flocks, seven thousand seven…
  • 2 Chronicles 26:7 (v11) God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.
  • Psalms 40:5 (v11) Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to…
  • Psalms 71:17 (v11) God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
  • Psalms 77:11 (v11) I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.
  • Psalms 89:5 (v11) The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
  • Psalms 96:3 (v11) Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
  • Psalms 107:8 (v11) Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
  • Psalms 107:15 (v11) Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
  • Psalms 107:21 (v11) Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
  • Psalms 111:4 (v11) He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered. Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
  • Psalms 136:4 (v11) to him who alone does great wonders; for his loving kindness endures forever:
  • Isaiah 11:11 (v9) It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from…
  • Isaiah 13:20 (v11) It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither…
  • Isaiah 25:1 (v11) Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete…
  • Isaiah 28:29 (v11) This also comes out from Yahweh of Armies, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
  • Jeremiah 3:2 (v11) “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an…
  • Daniel 4:2-3 (v11) It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me. How great are his signs! How mighty are…
  • Daniel 8:2 (v9) I saw the vision. Now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision, and…
  • Zechariah 8:20 (v10) Yahweh of Armies says: “Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;
  • Acts 13:13 (v10) Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
  • Acts 13:43 (v10) Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged…
  • Acts 15:38 (v10) But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them…
  • Acts 18:23 (v10) Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.
  • Acts 19:10 (v9) This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
  • Acts 19:31 (v9) Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.
  • Acts 27:7 (v11) When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the…
  • Acts 27:12 (v11) Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix,…
  • Titus 1:5 (v11) I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city, as I…
  • Genesis 10:22 (v9) The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
  • Genesis 12:10 (v10) There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.
  • Deuteronomy 23:4 (v9) because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the…
  • Judges 3:8 (v9) Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children…
  • 1 Chronicles 19:6 (v9) When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent one thousand talents of…
  • Ezra 6:2 (v9) A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written for a record:
  • Isaiah 19:23-25 (v10) In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the…
  • Isaiah 21:2 (v9) A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have…
  • Isaiah 21:13 (v11) The burden on Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, you caravans of Dedanites.
  • Jeremiah 46:9 (v10) Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend…
  • Ezekiel 30:5 (v10) “ ‘ “Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with them by the…
  • Daniel 8:20 (v9) The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
  • Daniel 11:43 (v10) But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians…
  • Hosea 11:1 (v10) “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
  • Matthew 27:32 (v10) As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross.
  • Mark 15:21 (v10) They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might…
  • Acts 7:2 (v9) He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in…
  • Acts 11:20 (v10) But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord…
  • Acts 14:24 (v10) They passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia.
  • Acts 19:27 (v9) Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as…
  • Acts 20:16 (v9) For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for…
  • Acts 20:18 (v9) When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the…
  • Acts 27:5 (v10) When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
  • Romans 1:15 (v10) So as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.
  • Romans 16:5 (v9) Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ.
  • 1 Corinthians 16:19 (v9) The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in their house.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:8 (v9) For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down…
  • Galatians 1:17 (v11) nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.
  • Galatians 4:25 (v11) For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
  • 2 Timothy 1:17 (v10) but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me
  • Revelation 1:11 (v9) saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and…
  • Esther 8:17 (v10) In every province, and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good…
  • Jeremiah 9:26 (v10) Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness, for all…
  • Matthew 2:15 (v10) and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt…
  • Acts 6:5 (v10) These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,…
  • Acts 13:1 (v10) Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,…
  • Acts 28:15 (v10) From there the brothers, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them,…
  • Romans 1:7 (v10) to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:28 (v11) God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps,…
  • Revelation 11:8 (v10) Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

88 distinct cross-references across this passage (91 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (19 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v11 11. The wonderful works of God. Luke noteth two…

11. The wonderful works of God. Luke noteth two things which caused the hearers to wonder; first, because the apostles being before ignorant and private persons, born in a base corner, did, notwithstanding, intreat profoundly of divine matters, and of heavenly wisdom. The other is, because they have new tongues given them suddenly. Both things are worth the noting, because to huddle out [utter] words unadvisedly and foolishly, should not so much have served to move their minds; and the majesty of the things ought the more to have moved them to consider the miracle. Although they give due honor to God, in that they are astonished and amazed, yet the principal and of the miracle is expressed in this, that they inquire, and thereby declare that they are prepared to learn; for otherwise their amazedness and wondering should not have done them any great good. And certainly we must so wonder at the works of God, that there must be also a consideration, and a desire to understand.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Not that they spake with one voice, and many…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 And how hear we every man in our…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–11 Διαλεκτος signifies commonly a different way of speaking, or…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–11 And how hear we every man in our own…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Judea - The dialect of which greatly differed from…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–11 Verse 8. How hear we every man in our…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–11 Wherein we were born - That is, as we…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v9 Parthians, &c.--Beginning with the farthest east, the Parthians, the…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11 8. Wherein we were born—The tongue of the country…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11 8. every man in our own tongue] i.e. language.…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–11 (8) And how hear we every man in our…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–11 Language for tongue, A.V. Language. (dialektw, as in Act_1:19)…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Parthians. The long list of nations embraces the…
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv8–9 8. E. g., while Peter was preaching in Greek…
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv8–11 See notes on verse 6
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv8, 11
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 Why is it that we are hearing them, each…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9–10 2:9-11 Parthians came from the region stretching from the…
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