Bible Strands
Acts 2:40
With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter addresses the Jerusalem crowd immediately after his Pentecost sermon, speaking to those who just asked how to respond to the gospel. He directs his words to the immediate listeners while pointing to the broader promise extending to their descendants and all whom God calls.
The words — The text records διεμαρτύρατο (diemartyrato), meaning he earnestly testified, and παρεκάλει (parekalei), meaning he was exhorting. He commands the audience to be saved from this σκολιᾶς (skolias), or corrupt, generation.
The thread — The phrase "corrupt generation" appears in Philippians 2:15, Deuteronomy 32:5, and Matthew 17:17. These passages consistently link moral deviation with a need for faithful witness or divine correction.
Why it lands — The text states a direct command to separate from a morally compromised environment, followed by the immediate result of baptism and church growth in Acts 2:41. It requires a reader to recognize that salvation entails both divine calling and a decisive break from prevailing corruption.
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
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Cross-references
- Philippians 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.
- Matthew 17:17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- Ephesians 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- 1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
- Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
- Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Matthew 23:33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
- Acts 28:23 So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.