Passage

Acts 3.19

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. 18. But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19. Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;

and that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus: 21. whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old. (Acts 3:17-21, ASV)

WEB

17. “Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18. But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19. “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before, 21. whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets. (Acts 3:17-21, WEB)

KJV

17. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. 18. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21. Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:17-21, KJV)

YLT

17. 'And now, brethren, I have known that through ignorance ye did [it], as also your rulers; 18. and God, what things before He had declared through the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ should suffer, He did thus fulfil;

19. reform ye, therefore, and turn back, for your sins being blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

and He may send Jesus Christ who before hath been preached to you, 21. whom it behoveth heaven, indeed, to receive till times of a restitution of all things, of which God spake through the mouth of all His holy prophets from the age. (Acts 3:17-21, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Peter
Audience: the crowd in Solomon's portico after the healing of the lame man
Location: the temple in Jerusalem
Time period: shortly after Pentecost, c. AD 30

Theological reading

Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

Two verbs, and they are not synonyms. Metanoeo is the change of mind, the inward reversal of judgment. Epistrepho is to turn around, an outward reorientation of direction. Peter puts them together, and the pairing is the standard Lukan account of conversion: a changed mind that produces a changed course. Neither is offered as sufficient alone.

Blotted out renders exaleipho, used of wiping writing from a surface or erasing an entry from a register. The image is documentary rather than therapeutic. What is promised is not that guilt will be felt less but that a record will be removed, which is the same forensic picture Paul develops at Colossians 2:14.

Seasons of refreshing (kairoi anapsyxeos) is unusual vocabulary, occurring nowhere else in the New Testament, and its reference is disputed between a present experience of relief and the future restoration named in verses 20 and 21. The parallel structure with the times of restoration of all things favours the eschatological reading, with the refreshing arriving when the Christ appointed for them is sent.

The pastoral note is that the whole call is addressed to people Peter has just charged with killing the Author of life. Repentance is offered to precisely those with most to repent of.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G3340 - metanoeo, metanoeo, Strong's G3340
G2540 - kairos, kairos, Strong's G2540
G0266 - hamartia, hamartia, Strong's G0266
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.