Acts 1:20 (GNV)

Passage

For it is written in the booke of Psalmes, Let his habitation be void, and let no man dwel therein: also, Let another take his charge.

Nearby Context

Acts 1:18 He therefore hath purchased a field with the reward of iniquitie: and when he had throwen downe himselfe headlong, hee brast asunder in the middes, and all his bowels gushed out.

Acts 1:19 And it is knowen vnto all the inhabitants of Hierusalem, in so much, that that field is called in their owne language, Aceldama, That is, the field of blood.

Acts 1:20 For it is written in the booke of Psalmes, Let his habitation be void, and let no man dwel therein: also, Let another take his charge.

Acts 1:21 Wherefore of these men which haue companied with vs, all the time that the Lord Iesus was conuersant among vs,

Acts 1:22 Beginning from the baptisme of Iohn vnto the day that hee was taken vp from vs, must one of them bee made a witnesse with vs of his resurrection.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "written", "booke", "psalmes", "habitation", "void", "dwel", "therein", and "another". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "written" and "booke", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And it is knowen vnto all the..." into verse 21's "Wherefore of these men which haue companied...", so "written" and "booke" 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 "written" and "booke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.