Acts 4:20 (DRB)

Passage

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Nearby Context

Acts 4:18 And calling them, they charged them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answering, said to them: If it be just, in the sight of God, to hear you rather than God, judge ye.

Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Acts 4:21 But they, threatening, sent them away, not finding how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified what had been done, in that which had come to pass.

Acts 4:22 For the man was above forty years old, in whom that miraculous cure had been wrought.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "things", "seen", and "heard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speak" and "things", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "But Peter and John answering said to..." into verse 21's "But they threatening sent them away not...", so "speak" and "things" 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 "speak" and "things" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.