Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Parallel translations
- WEB praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
- BSB praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
- NKJV praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
- NASB praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
- NLT all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
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
The believers praised God and were respected by the wider community, while the Lord himself kept adding new converts daily. Salvation and church growth are God's work.
Overview
The summary closes by crediting growth to the Lord, not human effort: it is God who adds 'those who were being saved.' This guards against pride and points to divine sovereignty in salvation, a theme dear to the Reformed tradition. The favor they enjoyed and the praise they offered flowed from genuine transformation, as the gospel of the crucified and risen Jesus bore visible fruit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Acts 16:5And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
- Acts 5:13–14And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.
- Acts 2:41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
- 1 Cor 1:18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
- Acts 2:39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
- Rom 14:18For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
- Acts 11:24For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
- Acts 13:48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
- Titus 3:4–5But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
- Rom 11:5–7Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- Rom 8:30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
- Rom 9:27Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
- Luke 2:52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
- Acts 4:21So 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.
- Luke 19:48And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
- Acts 4:33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 2:47 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.