Acts 1:24 (GNV)

Passage

And they praied, saying, Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shewe whether of these two thou hast chosen,

Nearby Context

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.

Acts 1:23 And they presented two, Ioseph called Barsabas, whose surname was Iustus, and Matthias.

Acts 1:24 And they praied, saying, Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shewe whether of these two thou hast chosen,

Acts 1:25 That he may take the roume of this ministration and Apostleship, from which Iudas hath gone astray, to goe to his owne place.

Acts 1:26 Then they gaue foorth their lottes: and the lotte fell on Matthias, and hee was by a common consent counted with the eleuen Apostles.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "praied", "saying", "thou", "lord", "knowest", "hearts", "shewe", and "whether". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "praied" and "saying", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "And they presented two Ioseph called Barsabas..." into verse 25's "That he may take the roume of...", so "praied" and "saying" 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 "praied" and "saying" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.