Acts 3:21

This one ¹  heaven must ²  receive until the time all things are restored, ³  which God declared ⁴  from times long ago ⁵  through his holy prophets.

Isa 1:26; Mal 3:3,4; Mal 4:5,6; Mt 17:11,12; Mr 9:11-13; Lu 1:70; Ac 1:11; Ac 3:19; Ac 10:43; 2Pe 1:21; 2Pe 3:2; Re 18:20; Re 22:6

¹ tn Grk “whom,” continuing the sentence from v. 20.

² sn The term must used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) is a key Lukan term to point to the plan of God and what must occur.

³ tn Grk “until the times of the restoration of all things.” Because of the awkward English style of the extended genitive construction, and because the following relative clause has as its referent the “time of restoration” rather than “all things,” the phrase was translated “until the time all things are restored.”

sn The time all things are restored. What that restoration involves is already recorded in the scriptures of the nation of Israel.

⁴ tn Or “spoke.”

⁵ tn Or “from all ages past.”

sn From times long ago. Once again, God’s plan is emphasized.