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  • Acts 20:28
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
    • 28 Pay attention to yourselves+ and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers,+ to shepherd the congregation of God,+ which he purchased with the blood of his own Son.+

  • Acts 20:28
    The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures
    • 28 προσέχετε Be YOU paying attention ἑαυτοῖς to selves καὶ and παντὶ to all τῷ the ποιμνίῳ, flock, ἐν in ᾧ which ὑμᾶς YOU τὸ the πνεῦμα spirit τὸ the ἅγιον holy ἔθετο put ἐπισκόπους, overseers, ποιμαίνειν to be shepherding τὴν the ἐκκλησίαν ecclesia τοῦ of the θεοῦ, God, ἣν which περιεποιήσατο he reserved for self διὰ through τοῦ the αἵματος blood τοῦ of the ἰδίου. own (one).

  • Acts 20:28
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
    • 28 Pay attention+ to yourselves+ and to all the flock,+ among which the holy spirit has appointed YOU overseers,*+ to shepherd the congregation of God,*+ which he purchased with the blood+ of his own [Son].*

  • Acts 20:28
    The Bible in Living English
    • 28* Look out for yourselves and for all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you visitors to shepherd God’s church which he secured by his own blood.

  • Acts 20:28
    American Standard Version
    • 28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

  • Acts 20:28
    The Emphasized Bible
    • 28 Be taking heed unto yourselves and unto all the little flock in which the Holy Spirit hath set you as overseers,—to be shepherding the assembly of God which he hath acquired through means of the blood of his own.

  • Acts 20:28
    King James Version
    • 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

  • Acts
    Watch Tower Publications Index 1986-2022
    • 20:28 cl 101-102; w13 11/15 22; w11 6/15 20-21; w02 3/15 14-15; w01 1/15 13-16; w93 7/15 24, 26-27; w92 2/1 16; w92 7/1 16; w89 9/15 14-15; rs 418

  • Acts
    Watch Tower Publications Index 1930-1985
    • 20:28 w85 8/1 31; Rbi8 1580; w80 9/1 14-20; bw 142-143; g79 7/8 27-28; w76 406-407; w75 370-371; w75 470; w75 733; w74 121; w74 367-368; w74 598-599; w73 39; w73 277; w73 374; w72 18-19, 604; or 8, 17, 53, 62; yb72 26-27; w71 689-690; w71 751; bi8-71 1363; int69 1160; w68 527; yl 122; w64 466, 472, 613; w63 152; bi8-63 3589; w62 179, 630; w61 139; w59 339; w58 42, 47, 87; w57 125, 371; w53 6; bi7-50 777; w48 171; w47 165; w44 312-313; tf 248; w38 180; w32 247

  • Acts
    Research Guide for Jehovah’s Witnesses—2019 Edition
    • 20:28

      Close to Jehovah, pp. 101-102

      The Watchtower,

      11/15/2013, p. 22

      6/15/2011, pp. 20-21

      3/15/2002, pp. 14-15

      1/15/2001, pp. 13-16

      7/15/1993, pp. 24, 26-27

      7/1/1992, p. 16

      2/1/1992, p. 16

      9/15/1989, pp. 14-15

      8/1/1985, p. 31

      9/1/1980, pp. 14-20

      7/1/1976, pp. 406-407

      12/1/1975, p. 733

      8/1/1975, p. 470

      6/15/1975, pp. 370-371

      10/1/1974, pp. 598-599

      6/15/1974, pp. 367-368

      2/15/1974, p. 121

      6/15/1973, p. 374

      5/1/1973, p. 277

      1/15/1973, p. 39

      10/1/1972, p. 604

      1/1/1972, pp. 18-19

      12/15/1971, p. 751

      11/15/1971, pp. 689-690

      9/1/1968, pp. 527-528

      10/15/1964, pp. 613-614

      8/1/1964, pp. 465-467, 471-473

      3/1/1963, pp. 151-152

      10/15/1962, pp. 630-631

      3/15/1962, pp. 178-180

      3/1/1961, pp. 138-140

      6/1/1959, p. 339

      2/1/1958, pp. 86-88

      1/15/1958, pp. 42-43, 46-48

      6/15/1957, pp. 371-372

      2/15/1957, pp. 124-126

      1/1/1953, pp. 5-7

      Reasoning, p. 418

      Reference Bible, p. 1580

      Choosing, pp. 142-143

      Awake!,

      7/8/1979, pp. 27-28

      1972 Yearbook, pp. 26-27

  • Acts Study Notes—Chapter 20
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)
    • 20:28

      Pay attention to: Or “Keep watch over.” The sheep in Jehovah’s flock are dear to him because he purchased them with the precious “blood of his own Son.” Jehovah could not have paid a higher price. Humble overseers, therefore, keep watch over the welfare of each member of the flock, bearing in mind how much Jehovah loves his sheep.​—1Pe 5:1-3.

      overseers: The Greek word for overseer, e·piʹsko·pos, is related to the verb e·pi·sko·peʹo, meaning “carefully watch” (Heb 12:15), and to the noun e·pi·sko·peʹ, meaning “inspection” (Lu 19:44, Kingdom Interlinear; 1Pe 2:12), “to be an overseer” (1Ti 3:1), or “office of oversight” (Ac 1:20). Therefore, the overseer was one who visited, inspected, and directed members of the congregation. Protective supervision is a basic idea inherent in the Greek term. Overseers in the Christian congregation have the responsibility to care for spiritual concerns of their fellow believers. Paul here used the term “overseers” when speaking to the “elders” from the congregation in Ephesus. (Ac 20:17) And in his letter to Titus, he uses the term “overseer” when describing the qualifications for “elders” in the Christian congregation. (Tit 1:5, 7) The terms, therefore, refer to the same position, pre·sbyʹte·ros indicating the mature qualities of the one so appointed and e·piʹsko·pos indicating the duties inherent in the appointment. This account about Paul meeting with the elders from Ephesus clearly shows that there were several overseers in that congregation. There was no set number of overseers for any one congregation, but the number serving depended on the number of those qualifying as “elders,” or spiritually mature men, in that congregation. Likewise, in writing to the Philippian Christians, Paul referred to the “overseers” there (Php 1:1), indicating that they served as a body, overseeing the affairs of that congregation.​—See study note on Ac 1:20.

      God: Some ancient manuscripts read “the Lord” here, but the main text reading “God” has strong manuscript support and is viewed by many scholars as the original reading.

      with the blood of his own Son: Lit., “through the blood of the own (one).” Grammatically, the Greek expression could be translated “with the blood of his own” or “with his own blood,” so the context has to be taken into consideration. In Greek, the expression ho iʹdi·os (“his own”) could stand alone without a clarifying noun or pronoun, as seen by how it is rendered at Joh 1:11 (“his own home”); at Joh 13:1 (“his own”); at Ac 4:23 (“their own people”); and at Ac 24:23 (“his people”). In non-Biblical Greek papyri, the phrase is used as a term of endearment to refer to close relatives. A reader of this verse would logically understand from the context that a noun in the singular number is implied after the expression “his own” and that the noun referred to God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed. Based on this, quite a number of scholars and translators acknowledge that the word “son” is to be understood here and render the phrase “with the blood of his own Son.”

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