Acts 13:41

‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul speaks to the synagogue audience in Pisidian Antioch, addressing those who have rejected the message. The moment follows his warning (Acts 13:40) and precedes the crowd urging continuation (Acts 13:42).

The words — καταφρονηταί (kataphronētai, G2707) is a strong term for those who look down on or scorn, not merely disagree. The imperative ἀφανισθήτε (aphanisthēte, G853) is "do perish" — a command-form warning, not a gentle suggestion.

The thread — Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5 nearly verbatim, transplanting a prophetic warning against a nation into a synagogue address. The same logic of judgment beginning with God's own people appears in 1 Peter 4:17, and the hardening of those who rejected the message mirrors Romans 11:7.

Why it lands — The verse asks whether the reader is a scoffer who has dismissed what God is doing, or a listener who will be astonished. It leaves no middle ground: the work is happening now, and disbelief is not a neutral stance but a fatal one.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

Cross-references

Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
Romans 11:7 What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
Isaiah 28:14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Colossians 1:26 the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.
Proverbs 5:12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
Matthew 22:7 The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.
Matthew 21:41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
Matthew 23:34 Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.
Luke 21:20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.