It should be pointed out that verses 16-18 comprise one sentence in the Greek. Also of importance for these three verses is the number of Old Testament allusions that Paul makes.

Get up and stand on your feet is stated somewhat differently in 22.10 and 9.6. Here the command reflects Ezekiel 2.1, 3. In a number of languages there is a single expression which means get up and stand on your feet. Under such circumstances a single verb may very well be sufficient to translate all of the components implied in this phrase of seven words in English.

My servant may be rendered as “one who is to help me” or “one who is to work for me” (see 13.5).

You are to tell others translates “(you are to be) a witness.” What you have seen of me … and what I will show you represents a difficult construction in Greek, but the meaning is understood in this sense by all commentators and translators. Although the weight of manuscript evidence favors the omission of the phrase of me, the strongest argument for its inclusion is the fact that it makes the kind of awkward Greek that is best assumed to be original.

The Good News Translation has made the temporal relationship explicit by today and in the future.

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 .