Acts 5:9
What does Acts 5:9 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 5:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 5:9 means
Peter exposes the deeper issue: husband and wife agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord. Their conspiracy was not only a social lie but a spiritual provocation, as if to see whether God would notice or care. Peter announces that the same men who buried Ananias stand ready to carry Sapphira out. The statement marks both a prophecy and a verdict. It underscores that God’s Spirit actively guards the church’s integrity. To test the Lord is to challenge His holiness and truthfulness, a grave affront. The verse shows God’s concern that the church’s witness be free from deliberate hypocrisy at its very foundation.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be false to the Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Peter said unto her, `How was it agreed by you, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? lo, the feet of those who did bury thy husband <FI>are<Fi> at the door, and they shall carry thee forth;'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And Peter said unto her: Why have you agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Behold the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at the door: and they shall carry thee out,
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And Peter said to her, Why [is it] that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of [the] Lord? Lo, the feet of those that have buried thy husband [are] at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
Context
After Sapphira’s false answer, Peter articulates the spiritual nature of the sin. This transitions from inquiry to judgment and connects the two deaths as part of a unified divine response. The mention of the young men at the door ties the two scenes together and signals the impending outcome. Next, Sapphira will immediately fall and die, and she will be buried beside her husband. The mirrored judgments reinforce the seriousness of their shared deceit and set the stage for the community’s heightened fear, which will be explicitly noted in the following verse.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 78:56
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies;
- Acts 15:10
Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- Luke 16:2
And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? render the account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward.
- Romans 3:19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:
- Psalms 78:18
And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.
- Micah 7:3
Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
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