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Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
Acts 13:41 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’”
  • BSB ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”
  • NKJV ‘Behold,you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
  • NASB ‘Look, you scoffers, and be astonished, and perish; For I am accomplishing a work in your days, A work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’ ”
  • NLT ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

He cites Habakkuk: scoffers who will not believe God's astonishing work will perish. Persistent unbelief leads to ruin.

Overview

Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5, where God warned of a work so startling the scoffers would not credit it. Originally pointing to judgment through the Babylonians, the words now warn against rejecting the greater work of the gospel. The citation underscores that to despise God's saving act in Christ is to court destruction.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Hab 1:5Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
  • 1 Pet 4:17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
  • Rom 11:7–14What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
  • Isa 28:14–22Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
  • Col 1:26–27Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
  • Matt 22:7–10But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
  • Prov 5:12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
  • Matt 21:41–44They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
  • Acts 13:47For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
  • 1 Th 2:16Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
  • Luke 21:20–26And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
  • Eph 3:3–8How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
  • Heb 10:28–30He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
  • Matt 23:34–38Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
  • Luke 16:14And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
  • Prov 1:24–32Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
  • Matt 8:10–11When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
  • Acts 6:14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
  • Dan 9:26–27And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
  • Isa 65:15And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
  • Acts 22:21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
  • Isa 5:24Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
  • Acts 3:23And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
  • Luke 19:42–44Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
  • Luke 23:35And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 13:41YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 13:41 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.