Acts 4:26 (ASV)

Passage

The kings of the earth set themselves in array, And the rulers were gathered together, Against the Lord, and against his Anointed:

Nearby Context

Acts 4:24 And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:

Acts 4:25 who by the Holy Spirit, [by] the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say, Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples imagine vain things?

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth set themselves in array, And the rulers were gathered together, Against the Lord, and against his Anointed:

Acts 4:27 for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together,

Acts 4:28 to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "kings", "earth", "themselves", "array", "rulers", "gathered", "together", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "kings" and "earth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "who by the Holy Spirit by the..." into verse 27's "for of a truth in this city...", so "kings" and "earth" 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 "kings" and "earth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.