In Greek, this and the following verse are one sentence. I received authority from the chief priests may be rendered as “the chief priests gave me the power,” “the chief priests appointed me with power,” or “the chief priests gave me the power to put many of God’s people in prison.”

When they were sentenced to death is literally “when they were put to death,” but most translations understand it in the sense followed by the Good News Translation (see New English Bible “were condemned to death”). The phrase I also voted for it would suggest that Paul himself had been a member of the Council in Jerusalem, which alone would have passed judgments of this kind. In order to render I also voted for it, some languages employ “I also said, I agree” or “I showed that I also was in favor.”

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 .