Acts 1:24 (DBY)

Passage

And they prayed, and said, Thou Lord, knower of the hearts of all, shew which one of these two thou hast chosen,

Nearby Context

Acts 1:22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us, one of these should be a witness with us of his resurrection.

Acts 1:23 And they appointed two, Joseph, who was called Barsabas, who had been surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

Acts 1:24 And they prayed, and said, Thou Lord, knower of the hearts of all, shew which one of these two thou hast chosen,

Acts 1:25 to receive the lot of this service and apostleship, from which Judas transgressing fell to go to his own place.

Acts 1:26 And they gave lots on them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "prayed", "said", "thou", "lord", "knower", "hearts", and "shew". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "prayed" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "And they appointed two Joseph who was..." into verse 25's "to receive the lot of this service...", so "prayed" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "prayed" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.