Acts 26:20

King James Version

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Parallel Translations

Simplified Cowboy Version
I preached first to those in the Damascus area. Then I preached in Jerusalem and all of Judea. Then I went to the mavericks, or Gentiles, so all would turn from their sorry ways and ride for God. And the proof of this change was the good things they did.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

Legacy Standard Bible
but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, practicing deeds appropriate to repentance.

Bible in Basic English
But I went about, first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, preaching a change of heart, so that they, being turned to God, might give, in their works, the fruits of a changed heart.

Darby Translation
but have, first to those both in Damascus and Jerusalem, and to all the region of Judaea, and to the nations, announced that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

New King James Version
but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Christian Standard Bible®
Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.

World English Bible
but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But first to them at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judea, and then to the Gentiles I declare, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Weymouth's New Testament
but I proceeded to preach first to the people in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God, and live lives consistent with such repentance.

King James Version (1611)
But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, and at Hierusalem, and thorowout all the coasts of Iudea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turne to God, and do works meete for repentance.

Literal Translation
but to those first in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and to all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I proclaimed the command to repent and to turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
but shewed it first vnto them at Damascon, and at Ierusale, and in all the coastes of Iewry, and to the Heythen, that they shulde do pennaunce, and turne vnto God, and to do the righte workes of pennaunce.

Mace New Testament (1729)
first I warn'd the people of Damascus, of Jerusalem, of all Judea, and then the Gentiles, to repent, and turn to God, by acting suitably to their repentance.

Amplified Bible
but I openly proclaimed first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent [change their inner self—their old way of thinking] and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are consistent with repentance.

American Standard Version
but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Revised Standard Version
but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
but shewed fyrst vnto them of Damasco and at Ierusalem and thorow out all the costes of Iewry and to the gentyls that they shuld repent and turne to God and do the ryght workes of repentaunce.

Update Bible Version
but declared both to them of Damascus first and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Webster's Bible Translation
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Young's Literal Translation
but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation;

New Century Version
I began telling people that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God and do things to show they really had changed. I told this first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and in every part of Judea, and also to the other people.

New English Translation
but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.

Berean Standard Bible
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

Contemporary English Version
First I preached to the people in Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem and all over Judea. Finally, I went to the Gentiles and said, "Stop sinning and turn to God! Then prove what you have done by the way you live."

Complete Jewish Bible
On the contrary, I announced first in Dammesek, then in Yerushalayim and throughout Y'hudah, and also to the Goyim, that they should turn from their sins to God and then do deeds consistent with that repentance.

English Standard Version
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, and at Hierusalem, & throughout all the coasts of Iudea, & then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turne to God, and doe workes worthy amendement of life.

George Lamsa Translation
But I preached first to them of Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the villages of Juda, and then to the Gentiles, that they might repent and turn to God and do works worthy of repentance.

Hebrew Names Version
but declared first to them of Dammesek, at Yerushalayim, and throughout all the country of Yehudah, and also to the Goyim, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

International Standard Version
Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then the whole countryside of Judea, and then the Gentiles to repent, turn to God, and practice works that are consistent with such repentance.Matthew 3:8; Acts 9:20,22, 29; 11:26; 13:1-52; 14:1-28; 16:1-40; 17:1-34; 18:1-28; 19:1-41; 20:1-38; 21:1-40;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
but preached, at first to them who were in Darmsuk, and to them who were at Urishlem, and in all the districts of Jihud, and also to the Gentiles have I preached, that they should repent, and turn to Aloha, and do works worthy of repentance.

Murdock Translation
but I preached from the first to them in Damascus, and to them in Jerusalem and in all the villages of Judaea; and I preached also to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and should turn to God, and should do the works suitable to repentance.

New Living Translation
I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

New Life Bible
First I told what I saw to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem. I told it through all the country of Judea. I even preached to the people who are not Jews that they should be sorry for their sins and turn from them to God. I told them they should do things to show they are sorry for their sins.

English Revised Version
but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

New Revised Standard
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But - both to them in Damascus, first, and in Jerusalem, unto all the country of Judaea also, and unto the nations, I carried tidings - that they should repent, and turn unto God, and, works worthy of their repentance, should practise.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But to them first that are at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and unto all the country of Judea, and to the Gentiles did I preach, that they should do penance and turn to God, doing works worthy of penance.

Lexham English Bible
but to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed that they should repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, & at Hierusalem, and throughout all the coastes of Iurie, and then to the gentiles, that they shoulde repent, and turne to God, and do such workes as become them that repent.

Easy-to-Read Version
I began telling people to change their hearts and lives and turn back to God. And I told them to do what would show that they had really changed. I went first to people in Damascus. Then I went to Jerusalem and to every part of Judea and told the people there. I also went to the non-Jewish people.

New American Standard Bible
but continually proclaimed to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they are to repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.

Good News Translation
First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
but Y tolde to hem that been at Damask first, and at Jerusalem, and bi al the cuntre of Judee, and to hethene men, that thei schulden do penaunce, and be conuertid to God, and do worthi werkis of penaunce.

Contextual Overview

¹² Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ¹⁵ And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶ 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; ¹⁷ Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, ¹⁸ To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. ¹⁹ Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: ²⁰ But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. ²¹ For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

first: Acts 9:19-22, Acts 11:26-30

and at: Acts 9:28, Acts 9:29, Acts 22:17, Acts 22:18

and then: Acts 26:17, Acts 13:46-48, Acts 14:16-21, Acts 22:21, Acts 22:22, Romans 11:18-20

repent: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Acts 11:18, Acts 17:30, Acts 20:21, Jeremiah 31:19, Jeremiah 31:20, Ezekiel 18:30-32, Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 9:13, Matthew 21:30-32, Mark 6:12, Luke 13:3, Luke 13:5, Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 24:46, Luke 24:47, Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Timothy 2:25, 2 Timothy 2:26, Revelation 2:5, Revelation 2:21, Revelation 3:3, Revelation 16:11

turn: Acts 9:35, Acts 14:15, Acts 15:19, Psalms 22:27, Lamentations 3:40, Hosea 12:6, Hosea 14:2, Luke 1:16, 2 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:9

and do: Isaiah 55:7, Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8-14, Luke 19:8, Luke 19:9, Ephesians 4:17-32, Ephesians 5:1-25, Ephesians 6:1-9, Titus 2:2-13, 1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 Peter 2:9-12, 1 Peter 4:2-5, 2 Peter 1:5-8

Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:16 - make Deuteronomy 4:30 - if thou Deuteronomy 30:10 - turn unto Job 22:23 - return Proverbs 1:23 - Turn Proverbs 28:13 - and forsaketh Isaiah 10:21 - return Isaiah 31:6 - Turn Isaiah 59:20 - unto Jeremiah 13:5 - as Jeremiah 18:11 - return Jeremiah 25:5 - Turn Jeremiah 35:15 - Return Jeremiah 36:3 - they may Ezekiel 14:6 - Repent Ezekiel 18:27 - when Ezekiel 33:11 - turn ye Daniel 4:27 - break Joel 2:12 - turn Jonah 3:8 - let Zechariah 1:4 - Turn Matthew 10:6 - go Matthew 12:50 - do Matthew 21:29 - he repented Matthew 24:31 - he Mark 2:17 - I came Acts 3:26 - first Acts 9:26 - when Acts 18:6 - from Acts 21:28 - This is Acts 22:15 - of Romans 2:9 - of the Jew Romans 10:18 - Have they Romans 15:18 - to make Galatians 1:16 - immediately 1 Timothy 2:7 - a teacher Titus 3:3 - disobedient Hebrews 6:1 - repentance

Cross-References

Genesis 21:25
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But showed first unto them of Damascus,.... The Jews at Damascus to whom the apostle first preached; see Acts 9:20.

and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea; observing the order of his mission, Acts 26:17 though it was not until after he had been in Arabia, and had returned to Damascus, that he went to Jerusalem, and preached there; see Galatians 1:17 compared with Acts 9:28.

and [then] to the Gentiles; as at Antioch in Pisidia, at Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra in Lycaonia; and at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea in Macedonia; and in many places in Greece and Asia, as at Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and others, as this history shows; and indeed he preached the Gospel from Jerusalem round about to Illyricum;

that they should repent; that is, that they should repent of their sins; of sin in general, as it is committed against God, is a transgression of his law, and as it is in itself exceeding sinful, and in its effects dreadful; and of particular sins, such as men have been more especially addicted to, and of which the Jews and Gentiles, the apostle was sent unto, and to whom he preached, had been guilty: as the former of their will worship, and following the commandments and traditions of men, thereby making void the law of God; of their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah; of their persecution of his apostles, ministers, and people; and of their trust in, and dependence upon, their own righteousness for justification: and the latter of their immoralities, superstition, and idolatry; and both not of the outward gross actions of life only, but of inward sins and lusts: and repentance of each of these lies in a different sentiment of them; in a detestation and abhorrence of them; in shame and confusion on account of them; in self-reflections upon them, and humiliation for them; in an ingenuous acknowledgment of them, and turning from them: and this is not a national repentance which the ministers of the Gospel are to show to men the necessity of; though this is not unworthy of them, when there is a call in Providence to it, and the state of things require it; much less a legal one, but an evangelical repentance; which has along with it faith in Christ Jesus, dealing with his blood and righteousness for the remission of their sins, and their justification before God; and which springs from, and is encouraged and heightened by, a sense of the love of God: and now this being a part of the Gospel ministry, does not suppose it to be in the power of men to repent of themselves, since no man, whilst he remains insensible of the evil nature of sin, and the hardness of his heart continues, which none but God can remove, can repent; and when he becomes truly sensible, he then prays to God to give him repentance, and to turn him: nor does it at all contradict its being a blessing of the covenant, a gift of Christ, and a grace of the Spirit of God; nor does it suggest, that the preaching of the word is sufficient of itself to produce it; the contrary of which the ministry of John the Baptist, of Christ, and of his apostles, declares; but the design of its being insisted on in the Gospel ministry, is to show that men are sinners, and in such a state and condition, that they are in need of repentance, and that without it they must perish; and the rather this is to be quietly inculcated, since true repentance is unto life, is the beginning and evidence of spiritual life, and issues in eternal life; and since there is a close connection between that and salvation, and that without it there is no salvation. It follows,

and turn to God; this is to be understood, not of the first work of conversion, which is God's work, and not man's act, and in which man is passive, and which is before repentance, whereas this follows upon it; though the ministers of the word have a concern with this; to bring about this is the design and use of their ministrations; their business is to show the nature of conversion, what it is, and wherein it lies; to rectify mistakes about it, and to observe the necessity of it: but here is designed a turning to God, in consequence of the grace of first conversion; by an acknowledgment and confession of sin to God, by an application to him for pardoning grace and mercy, by a trust and dependence on him for righteousness, life, and salvation, and by obedience to his commands and ordinances. It intends a turning of the Jews from their evil principles and practices, from the traditions of their elders to the law of God, the Gospel of Christ, and the ordinances of it, and of the Gentiles, from their idols to the worship of the true and living God:

and do works meet for repentance the same with "fruits meet for repentance", Matthew 3:8. And such as are particularly mentioned in 2 Corinthians 7:11 they are they which are the reverse of the evil actions they have been guilty of, and which are properly good works. And they are they which are done according to the will of God declared in his word, this is a requisite of a good work; what is not according to the word of God is not a good work, nor can it be any evidence of repentance; and they are also such as spring from love to God, for if they are done through fear of punishment, or for sinister and selfish ends, they show repentance to be a mere legal one: and they are such as are done in faith, in the name and strength of Christ, and to the glory of God by him. All external good works are designed, which show that the inward repentance professed, and that the outward change made in religion and worship, are genuine and sincere: the doctrines of internal repentance and outward worship, and all good works, are parts of the Gospel ministry, and to be insisted on in their proper places.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See Acts 9:20-23. The 20th verse contains a summary of his labors in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus. His argument is that the Lord Jesus had from heaven commanded him to do this, and that he had done no more than to obey his injunction. The word “then” in this verse is supplied by our translators, and is not necessary to the proper explanation of the passage. It would seem from that word that he had not preached “to the Gentiles” until after he had preached “at Jerusalem and throughout all the coasts of Judea,” whereas, in fact, he had, as we have reason to believe (see the notes on Acts 9:23), before then “preached” to the Gentiles in Arabia. The statement here, in the original, is a general statement that he had preached at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and in all the coasts of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, but without specifying the exact order in which it was done.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 26:20. But showed first unto them of Damascus — He appears to have preached at Damascus, and in the neighbouring parts of Arabia Deserta, for about three years; and afterwards he went up to Jerusalem. See Galatians 1:17-18; and Acts 9:23; Acts 9:23.

That they should repent — Be deeply humbled for their past iniquities, and turn to God as their Judge and Saviour, avoiding all idolatry and all sin; and thus do works meet for repentance; that is, show by their conduct that they had contrite hearts, and that they sincerely sought salvation from God alone. For the meaning of the word repentance, Matthew 3:2; Matthew 3:2.