What the prophets said (v. 40) refers to a passage from the “book of the prophets,” in particular to Habakkuk 1.5, which is quoted in verse 41. This passage quotes the Septuagint which follows the Hebrew very closely except for the addition of one verb which is translated die by the Good News Translation. Most translators understand this verb to mean “to die” or “to perish,” but An American Translation* gives it a weakened sense, to get out of one’s sight, “Then wonder and begone!” In their original setting these words referred to the Chaldean invasion which Habakkuk felt to be imminent; Paul applies the word to the final judgment.

Look is simply an expression to attract the attention. In some instances it must be rendered as “listen.”

An expression for scoffers must sometimes have some type of goal or grammatical object, for example, “you who scoff at what God has said” or “you who speak bad about what God has said.”

In your own day is equivalent to “while you are still alive.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .