Acts 9:5-6
 
Acts 9:5-6
(KJV) {5} And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. {6} And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
(1611 KJV) {5} And he said, Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Iesus whom thou persecutest: It is hard for thee to kicke against the prickes. {6}And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou haue mee to doe? And the Lord said vnto him, Arise, and goe into the citie, and it shall be told thee what thou must doe.
(1568 Bishop’s Bible) {5} And he sayde: Who art thou Lorde? And the Lorde said: I am Iesus who thou persecutest, It is harde for thee to kicke agaynst the prickes. {6}And he both tremblyng and astonyed, sayde: Lord, what wylt thou haue me to do? And the Lorde sayde vnto hym: Aryse, and go into the citie, and it shalbe tolde thee what thou must do.
(1526 Tyndale) {5}And he sayde what arte thou lorde? And the lorde sayd I am Iesus whom thou persecutest it shalbe harde for ye to kycke agaynst ye pricke. {6}And he bothe tremblynge and astonyed sayde: Lorde what wilt thou have me to do? And ye Lorde sayde vnto him: aryse and goo into the cite and it shalbe tolde the what thou shalt do.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) {5} “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. {6} “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
(NIV) 5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
(NASB) 5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."
(THE MESSAGE) 5-6He said, "Who are you, Master?" "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next."
(NLT) 5 "Who are you, sir?" Saul asked. And the voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
(ESV) 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
(CEV) 5 "Who are you?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus," the Lord answered. "I am the one you are so cruel to. 6 Now get up and go into the city, where you will be told what to do."
(1901 ASV) 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: 6 but rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
(HCSB) 5 "Who are You, Lord?" he said. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied. 6 "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
(NCV) 5 Saul said, "Who are you, Lord?" The voice answered, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 Get up now and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do."
(RSV) 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; 6 but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
(NAB-Roman Catholic) 5 He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do."
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) 5 He said: “Who are you, Lord?” He said: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 Nevertheless, rise and enter into the city, and what you must do will be told you.”
 
Textus Receptus- Traditional Text
(5) eipen de tiV ei kurie o de kurioV eipen egw eimi ihsouV on su diwkeiV sklhron soi proV kentra laktizein (6) tremwn te kai qambwn eipen kurie ti me qeleiV poihsai kai o kurioV proV auton anasthqi kai eiselqe eiV thn polin kai lalhqhsetai soi ti se dei poiein
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
{5} eipen de tiV ei kurie o de egw eimi ihsouV on su diwkeiV {6}alla anasthqi kai eiselqe eiV thn polin kai lalhqhsetai soi o ti se dei poiein
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
These verses are corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Omit “It is hard for thee to kicke against the prickes. {6}And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou haue mee to doe? And the Lord said vnto him,”
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 Alexandrinus - Fifth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
E 08 - Sixth century
P 25 - Ninth century
X 033 - Tenth century
PSI 044 - Ninth/tenth century
P 74 - Seventh century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this Verse
E 07 - Eighth century
Syrian Peshitta (200 A.D.)
Old Latin Vulgate (150-200 A.D.)
Latin Vulgate 5th century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “It is hard for thee to kicke against the prickes. {6}And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou haue mee to doe? And the Lord said vnto him,”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
Hodges and Farstad - Majority Text 1982 as corrected in 1985
 
Affected Teaching
Here we have one of the accounts of the conversion of the Apostle Paul. In verse 5 the Lord Jesus is telling Paul that it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. In other words, the Lord Jesus was telling Paul that to fight the Gospel is like continually kicking a cactus with large thorns. All that will happen is that your foot will become bloody and you will never win over the cactus. Those who fight against the Gospel are in the same boat because although they might win a skirmish, they will never win the war because the Lord had stated that the Gospel will be preached to the ends of the earth and then He will return.
 
Then in verse 6, the Apostle Paul was trembling before the Lord and asked Him what he should do and the Lord had given him instruction what to do. Paul was very arrogant thinking that by putting Christians to death he would be able to stem the tide of Christianity but when he came face to face with the Lord, that arrogance and pride turned to fear which manifested itself in tremors and astonishment.
 
The modern versions leave out these vital parts of the verses which shows the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and how people tremble in His holy presence. Since the Gnostics did not believe that Jesus was deity, they apparently thought that it was unnecessary to include the parts about the Lord Jesus being deity and causing a mere human to tremble in His presence. This account of Paul’s conversion shows him having direct dialogue with the Lord Jesus from heaven. The modern versions make it sound like a casual conversation as if Paul was just stopping to ask for directions. The King James Bible retains the awesome nature of the encounter between Jesus and Paul but the modern versions make it sound like a street corner conversation with nothing special about it. 　In these two verses alone, 30 words have been removed.

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