Acts 1:8

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But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

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 Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (KJV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (NLT)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

but you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

Acts 1:8 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.

Acts 1:8 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Power for Witness: Dunamis Is Not Merely Spectacular

The Greek word dunamis, translated "power," is often associated with miracles and signs, and it does include those. But in Acts 1:8, the specific purpose of the dunamis is witness: you will receive power and you will be my witnesses. The power is not given for private spiritual experience but for effective, bold proclamation of the risen Christ to the surrounding world. The disciples before Pentecost were fearful and hidden. After Pentecost, they were publicly declaring the resurrection before thousands and before governing authorities. The dunamis of the Spirit is the power that enables the witness that would otherwise be silenced by fear, inadequacy, and opposition.

The Geography of Witness: Concentric Circles to the Ends of the Earth

Jesus structures the scope of witness in concentric circles that function as both a sequence and a totality. Jerusalem is where the disciples are standing. Judea is the surrounding region. Samaria is the despised adjacent territory, across ethnic and religious lines. The ends of the earth is the entire remaining world. The structure implies that witness is not sequential in the sense that one circle must be complete before the next begins. The book of Acts shows simultaneous expansion in all directions. Rather, the structure establishes the comprehensive scope of the mandate: no geographic, ethnic, or cultural boundary is outside the reach of the Spirit-empowered witness.

Acts 1:8 is the last recorded words of Jesus before His ascension, and they function as the thesis statement for the entire book of Acts. What follows in Acts 2 through 28 is the Spirit-empowered witness beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 1-7), expanding to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8-12), and reaching toward the ends of the earth through Paul's missionary journeys (Acts 13-28). The book ends with Paul in Rome, the center of the known world, preaching the kingdom of God unhindered. Acts 1:8 is not merely a commission given to the original disciples. It is the pattern and the promise for the church in every generation: receive the Spirit, bear witness, expand.

Application for Your Life

You Have Not Been Left to Witness in Your Own Strength

The promise of Acts 1:8 is that the power for witness comes from the Holy Spirit, not from the believer's natural capacity, confidence, or eloquence. This is directly relevant to the common experience of fear and inadequacy in sharing faith. The disciples who heard this promise had already proven their inability to stand boldly in their own strength: they had hidden behind locked doors after the crucifixion. Jesus does not rebuke them for their weakness and demand better performance. He promises them power. The same Spirit who empowered the first witnesses has been given to every believer. The call to witness is always accompanied by the resource to witness.

Your Witness Has a Geography

Acts 1:8 maps the witness with geographical specificity: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. For the individual believer, this maps onto the specific relational and geographic context in which they live. Jerusalem is the immediate neighborhood, household, and workplace. Judea is the surrounding community and city. Samaria is the unfamiliar, the cross-cultural, the people the believer would not naturally reach toward. The ends of the earth is the global dimension of the kingdom's advance. The Spirit who empowers witness does not empower witness in general: He empowers witness in the specific places and to the specific people where the believer is sent.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Holy Spirit, I receive the promise of Acts 1:8. You have come upon me and You have given me power. Not the power to perform in my own strength but the power to be a witness. Give me boldness to speak of Jesus in Jerusalem, in the immediate relationships and places where I live every day. Expand my witness into the Judea and Samaria of my world: the people I would not naturally reach, the communities beyond my comfort. And keep in me the awareness that I am part of a witness that reaches to the ends of the earth, a witness that began at Pentecost and has not stopped. Use me in my generation and my geography. In Jesus name. Amen.