1:8a

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: Here Jesus told them what they did need to know, in contrast to what they did not need to know in 1:7. In some languages a literal translation would not indicate contrast to God setting the times and dates. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain in your translation. For example:

But ⌊instead of needing to know such things,⌋ you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you
-or-
However, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you

• Allow the other words of 1:7–8 to indicate the contrast and do not translate the conjunction But. For example:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: This clause indicates that the Holy Spirit would soon come to them and enable them to do what God wants them to do, including to tell others about him. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power (New Century Version)

you will receive power: In English, the word receive implies someone else willingly gave what was received, and the word “take” does not imply that someone else willingly gave it. It is implied here that God willingly gave the power.

In some languages the same word is used for both “receive” and “take.” In some of those languages a literal translation would indicate that the believers took the power or that God did not give it willingly. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a different word than receive. For example:

you will be given power
-or-

⌊God⌋ will give power to you

1:8b–c

and you will be My witnesses: The phrase My witnesses indicates that the apostles would tell others what they knew personally about Jesus. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you will be witnesses for me (Good News Translation)
-or-
you will tell ⌊people⌋ what you know concerning me
-or-
you will announce my good news

Jerusalem: Jerusalem was (and is) the capital of Israel, then called Judea.

and in all Judea: Judea was the name of a region or province that the Romans, or one of their vassal kings, ruled. It was one of the areas where Jews lived.

Jerusalem was in the province of Judea. In some languages a literal translation would indicate or imply that Judea was in a different place. If that is true in your language, explain it in your translation. For example:

in all ⌊the rest of⌋ ⌊the province of⌋ Judea

and Samaria: Samaria was a region or district north of Judea. The Samaritan people lived there.

and to the ends of the earth: This phrase is an idiom that refers to the farthest places from where the person was. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the farthest places of the earth
-or-
everywhere else in the world
-or-
to earth’s remotest corners
-or-
as far as the entire world

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