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‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.
Acts 26:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;
  • KJV But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
  • NKJV But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose,to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
  • NASB But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,
  • NLT Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.

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

Christ commissions Paul to rise and serve as a witness of what he has seen and of further revelations Christ will give him.

Overview

Jesus appoints Paul not merely as a convert but as a servant and witness, an apostolic calling grounded in seeing the risen Lord. The promise of future revelation points to the gospel Paul would receive and proclaim. This shows that Paul's message was not man-made but came by direct commission from the exalted Christ, undergirding the authority of his ministry and letters.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 31

  • Acts 22:14–15Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice.
  • Dan 10:11He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling.
  • Ezek 2:1“Son of man,” He said to me, “stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.”
  • 1 Tim 1:12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.
  • Gal 1:12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
  • Rom 15:16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
  • Col 1:23if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
  • 2 Cor 4:1Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.
  • 2 Cor 12:1–7I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
  • Col 1:25I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,
  • Rom 1:5Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
  • Gal 2:2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I spoke privately to those recognized as leaders, for fear that I was running or had already run in vain.
  • Acts 23:11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”
  • Eph 3:7–8I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.
  • Acts 18:9–10One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.
  • Acts 20:24But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
  • Acts 9:6–9“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
  • 2 Cor 5:18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
  • 2 Tim 4:5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
  • Acts 13:1–4Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
  • Col 1:7You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
  • Acts 9:15–16“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.
  • Acts 21:19Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
  • Acts 27:23–24For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me
  • 1 Th 3:2We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
  • Acts 22:17–21Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
  • 1 Tim 4:6By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.
  • Acts 22:10Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
  • Acts 1:25to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”
  • Acts 6:4and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
  • Acts 1:17He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

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 26:16YouTube · 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 26:16 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.