Acts 19:19 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

¹⁹ And a large number of them, who had been involved in occultic practices, brought their books [on the occult] and began burning them publicly. When they calculated the cost [of the books] it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. [Note: The actual amount was approximately 150 years of a farm laborer’s pay, or more than 5 million dollars in 2005].

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁹ Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁹ And many of those who had practiced curious, magical arts collected their books and [throwing them, book after book, on the pile] burned them in the sight of everybody. When they counted the value of them, they found it amounted to 50,000 pieces of silver (about $9,300).

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁹ And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Common English Bible

¹⁹ This included a number of people who practiced sorcery. They collected their sorcery texts and burned them publicly. The value of those materials was calculated at more than someone might make if they worked for one hundred sixty-five years.

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁹ Then many of those who had followed odd sects brought together their books, and they burned them in the sight of all. And after determining the value of these, they found the price to be fifty thousand denarii.

Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version

¹⁹ And many of them who had followed curious arts, brought together their books, and burnt them before all; and counting the price of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Acts 19:19 Cross References

Luke 14:33

So therefore, every one of you who does not say ‘goodbye’ to everything he owns cannot be my disciple.

Luke 15:8

“Or what woman, who has ten silver coins [Note: These coins each amounted to about one twelve-hour day of a farm laborer’s pay, or about $108 in 2005], and if she loses one of them, would not light a lamp, sweep the house and search for it diligently until she finds it?

Acts 13:6

When they had traveled across the whole island they came to Paphos [a town on the island of Cyprus]; [there] they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, who was a Jewish false prophet.

Acts 13:8

But the magician, [also] named Elymas [an Arabic-Semitic word] (which means “the magician”) opposed them, trying to discourage the governor from hearing about the faith.

Acts 19:18

Many of the believers also came confessing their sins and describing what they had [previously] done.

Hebrews 10:34

For you showed sympathy for those who were in prison and accepted it joyfully when your [own] possessions were taken away, [because] you knew that you yourselves had a better and more permanent possession [in heaven].