Warned translates the same verb as was rendered solemn warning in verse 21. Although the Good News Translation has rendered this verb by a past tense, in the Greek it is actually a present tense. It is customary in Greek to use a present tense in a narrative when referring to past events, if these are to be particularly stressed.

In a number of receptor languages one cannot speak of prison and troubles wait for me. A person may wait for another person or he may wait for an event, but to have an object such as prison and troubles (as a series of events) wait for an individual is simply not possible in the meaning structure of many receptor languages. However, the structure can be readily readjusted—for example, “the Holy Spirit has warned me that people will put me in prison and cause me great trouble” or, in the passive form, “… I will be put into prison and caused to suffer much trouble.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .