King James Version

Acts 4:20

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

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Greek

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οὐoucannotοὐadverb — “cannot”G3756no, not.cannotδυνάμεθαdunamethabe ableδύναμαι (dunamai)verb, present middle indicative, 1st person plural — “be able”, an ongoing or repeated actionG1410(a) I am powerful, have (the) power, (b) I am able, I can.γὰρgarforγάρconjunction — “for”G1063for.ἡμεῖςhēmeisIἐγώ (egṓ)personal pronoun, nominative, plural — “I”, the subject formG1473I, the first-person pronoun.Strong’s files this form under G3165 (μέ).ἃhathings whichὅς (hos)relative pronoun, accusative, plural, neuter — “things which”, the object formG3739who, which, what, that.This verse uses “which”.the things whichεἴδαμενeidamenseeὁράω (horáō)Greek uses a different stem for this verb’s past forms.verb, aorist active indicative, 1st person plural — “see”, a single actionG3708I see, look upon, experience, perceive, discern, beware.This verse uses “see”.Strong’s files this form under G1492 (εἴδω, see/know).we have seenκαὶkaiandκαίconjunction — “and”G2532and, even, also, namely.This verse uses “and”.andἠκούσαμενēkousamenheardἀκούω (akouō)verb, aorist active indicative, 1st person plural — “heard”, a single actionG191I hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported.heardμὴmēnotμήadverb — “not”G3361not, lest.This verse uses “not”.λαλεῖνlaleinto speakλαλέω (laleō)verb, present active infinitive — “to speak”, an ongoing or repeated actionG2980(I talk, chatter in classical Greek, but in NT a more dignified word) I speak, say.This verse uses “speak”.

Literal (Young’s Literal Translation)

for we cannot but speak what we did see and hear.'

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard.

Young’s Literal Translation

for we cannot but speak what we did see and hear.'

World English Bible

for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”

Darby Translation

for as for us we cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard.

Douay-Rheims