Acts 1:8 (ASV)

Passage

But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Nearby Context

Acts 1:6 They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Acts 1:10 And while they were looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "shall", "receive", "power", "holy", "come", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "And he said unto them It is..." into verse 9's "And when he had said these things...", so "Spirit" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.