Acts 21:23

Simplified Cowboy Version

But listen to our plan and see if you like it. There are four men here who have completed a vow they made and now need to go get purified at the main church by getting their heads shaved. But these men don't have the money for it.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

King James Version (1611)
Doe therefore this that we say to thee: Wee haue foure men which haue a vow on them,

King James Version
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

English Standard Version
Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

New American Standard Bible
"Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves;

New Century Version
So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a promise to God.

Amplified Bible
"Therefore do just what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow.

Contemporary English Version
Please do what we ask, because four of our men have made special promises to God.

Complete Jewish Bible
So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

Darby Translation
This do therefore that we say to thee: We have four men who have a vow on them;

Easy-to-Read Version
So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a vow to God.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Doe therefore this that we say to thee. We haue foure men, which haue made a vowe,

George Lamsa Translation
Do, therefore, what we tell you: We have four men who have vowed to purify themselves;

Good News Translation
This is what we want you to do. There are four men here who have taken a vow.

Lexham English Bible
Therefore do this that we tell you: we have four men who have taken a vow upon themselves.

Literal Translation
Then do this, what we say to you: There are four men who have a vow on themselves;

American Standard Version
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men that have a vow on them;

Bible in Basic English
Do this, then, which we say to you: We have four men who have taken an oath;

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have a vow on them.

International Standard Version
So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

Etheridge Translation
We have four men who have a vow to be purified.

Murdock Translation
do thou what we tell thee. We have four men, who have vowed to purify themselves.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Do therfore this that we saye to thee. We haue foure men, which haue a vow on them:

English Revised Version
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

World English Bible
Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have a vow on them.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Therefore do this that we say to thee: there are with us four men, who have a vow on them:

Weymouth's New Testament
so do this which we now tell you. We have four men here who have a vow resting on them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor do thou this thing, that we seien to thee. Ther ben to vs foure men, that han a vow on hem.

Update Bible Version
Do therefore this that we say to you: We have four men that have a vow on them;

Webster's Bible Translation
Do therefore this that we say to thee: we have four men who have a vow on them;

New English Translation
So do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow;

New King James Version
Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.

New Living Translation
"Here's what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow.

New Life Bible
You must do what we tell you. We have four men with us who have made a promise to God.

New Revised Standard
So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
This, then, do, which unto thee, we say: - We have four men who have a vow upon themselves.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Do therefore this that we say to thee. We have four men, who have a vow on them.

Revised Standard Version
Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Do therfore this that we saye to the. We have .iiii. men which have a vowe on them.

Young's Literal Translation
`This, therefore, do that we say to thee: We have four men having a vow on themselves,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Do this therfore that we saye vnto the: We haue foure men, which haue a vowe on them,

Mace New Testament (1729)
yield then to our advice: there are four men here, who have made a vow:

Contextual Overview

¹⁵We packed up our gear and headed for Jerusalem then. ¹⁶Some of the cowboys from Caesarea went with us and introduced us to a man named Mnason. He was originally from Cyprus and one of the first cowboys to ride for the Lord. ¹⁷When we trotted into Jerusalem, the cowboys and cowgirls welcomed us warmly. ¹⁸After a good night's rest, we went the next day with Paul to meet with James and all the other range bosses at the church in Jerusalem. ¹⁹After handshakes and pats on the shoulder, Paul told them his tale of the things that had happened among the mavericks. ²⁰After listening to his story, they said, "It's been the same here, too. Thousands of Jews now believe in Jesus, but they still hold tight to the code of Moses. ²¹Rumors are spreading, Paul, that you are teaching the mavericks that they don't have to have their pickles clipped or follow any other of the Jewish customs. ²²What should we do? They will know soon enough you are here. And there's liable to be a squabble. ²³But listen to our plan and see if you like it. There are four men here who have completed a vow they made and now need to go get purified at the main church by getting their heads shaved. But these men don't have the money for it. ²⁴Join them, and then everyone will see you still hold to the Jewish laws.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

We have: Acts 18:18, Numbers 6:2-7

Reciprocal: Numbers 6:9 - shave

Cross-References

2 Corinthians 1:23
Now, with God as my witness, I'm telling y'all that the reason I didn't come back to Corinth was to save y'all from a bad scoldin'.

Hebrews 6:16
When people make a promise, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. A promise made like this can't be broken.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Do therefore this that we say to thee,.... This is said not as commanding, but as advising; and not to what was a duty, and necessary to be done as such, but as a point of prudence:

we have four men which have a vow on them; that is, there were four men who were of the church at Jerusalem, believers in Christ, but weak ones, who were zealous of the law, and bigots to it, and who had voluntarily vowed a vow of the Nazarites; see Numbers 6:2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

We have four men - There are with us four men. It is evident that James and the elders meant to say that these men were connected with them in the Christian church; and the fact shows that the Christians at Jerusalem did not disregard the institutions of Moses, and had not been so far enlightened in the doctrines of Christianity as to forsake yet the ceremonial rites of the Jews.

Which have a vow on them - Which have made a vow. See the notes on Acts 18:18. From the mention of shaving the head (in Acts 21:24), it is evident that the vow which they had taken was that of the Nazarite; and that as the time of their vow was about expiring, they were about to be shaven, in accordance with the custom usual on such occasions. See the notes on Acts 18:18. These persons Paul could join, and thus show decisively that he did not intend to undervalue or disparage the laws of Moses when those laws were understood as mere ceremonial observances.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 21:23. We have four men which have a vow — From the shaving of the head, mentioned immediately after, it is evident that the four men in question were under the vow of Nazariteship; and that the days of their vow were nearly at an end, as they were about to shave their heads; for, during the time of the Nazariteship, the hair was permitted to grow, and only shaven off at the termination of the vow. Among the Jews, it was common to make vows to God on extraordinary occasions; and that of the Nazarite appears to have been one of the most common; and it was permitted by their law for any person to perform this vow by proxy. See the law produced in my note, Numbers 6:21. "It was also customary for the richer sort to bestow their charity on the poorer sort for this purpose; for Josephus, Ant. lib. xix. cap. 6, sec. 1, observes that Agrippa, on his being advanced from a prison to a throne, by the Emperor Claudius, came to Jerusalem; and there, among other instances of his religious thankfulness shown in the temple, Ναζαραιων ξυρασθαι διεταξε μαλα συχνους, he ordered very many Nazarites to be shaven, he furnishing them with money for the expenses of that, and of the sacrifices necessarily attending it." See Bp. Pearce.