The Greek in Acts 16:16 that is translated in English as “(she had a) spirit of divination” or similar is translated in Morelos Nahuatl as “in that girl’s heart lived a demon. That demon could say what was going to happen before it happened,” in Lalana Chinantec as “she carried an evil spirit. Therefore she was able to make words ahead of time as to what would happen,” or in Coatlán Mixe as “she has a devil with her with which she foretells.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Yalunka an existing local term for “spirit of divination” is used: ninginangana. (Source: Pruett 2014, p. 259)
The Greek proverb in Acts 26:14 which is translated directly by some English versions as “kick against the goads (=a spiked stick used for driving cattle)” and refers to “pointless fighting” became “throw chaff into the wind” in the Khmer Standard Version translation of 2005 (the translators also considered “spit vertically upwards”). (Source David Clark)
In Lalana Chinantec it is translated as “as a bull which kicks a sharp stick which his owner holds so do you,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “you are doing the same as an ox that is hurting itself, kicking the sharp stick that people drive it with,” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “like a horse when it kicks the stick with which it is driven” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Elhomwe as “because you are against me, you are hurting yourself” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In Russian, the phrase Трудно тебе идти против рожна (Trudno tebe idti protiv rozhna) or “kick against the goads” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life, with the meaning of undertaking a risky action against constraint imposed by tradition or authority. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 63f.)
The Greek in Acts 28:22 that is here translated as “sect” in English is translated as “new mind” in Isthmus Mixe, as “new teaching” in Morelos Nahuatl, or “different word” in Lalana Chinantec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “your blood be on your own heads” or similar in English is translated as
“you have the guilt if you don’t receive eternal life” in Highland Popoluca
“you are to blame if you lose your own souls” in Coatlán Mixe
“you will be to blame yourselves when you do not go to a good place” in Isthmus Mixe
“you will be lost but you are at fault yourselves” in Morelos Nahuatl
“you are the ones who are guilty that you will be lost” in Lalana Chinantec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“if you die in your bad deeds, it’s your own bad fault” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
“let your own blood alone eat you” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
“You have killed yourselves with your own heart” in Chichewa (source: Wendland 1987, p. 28)
“your blood will be to you” (existing idiom) in Kwere (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Acts 2:8 that is translated as “our own native language” or similar in English is translated as “the language we know when we were children” in Eastern Highland Otomi, “as we talk from when we were born” in Morelos Nahuatl, “the Chinantec we have spoken since we were small” in Lalana Chinantec, and “language we began to understand when still a baby” in Chichimeca-Jonaz. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
