Bible Strands
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the disciples, moments before His ascension (Acts 1:9). This is His final instruction, following their question about times and seasons (Acts 1:7).
The words — Dunamin (δύναμιν) is the accusative of dynamis, a word for force or power, not mere ability. Epelthontos (ἐπελθόντος), aorist participle of epierchomai, marks the Spirit's arrival as a temporal fact ("when [he] comes"), not a conditional.
The thread — The geographic arc (Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → ends of the earth) echoes the universal scope of the commissions in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15. Romans 15:19 mirrors the same trajectory: "from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum," explicitly by the power of the Spirit.
Why it lands — The verse is a promise and a commission in one breath: the power is given, but the scope is fixed and non-negotiable. It removes the option of a local, comfortable witness and sets a boundary that expands outward until it reaches the edge of the known world.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Cross-references
- Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
- Romans 15:19 by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
- Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.
- Acts 5:32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
- Acts 6:8 Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
- Luke 24:46 And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
- Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
- Romans 10:18 But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”