Your power translates “your hand”; “the hand of God” is a biblical phrase which signifies “the power or might of God,” especially as seen in his mighty acts of salvation.

The statement of the principal event “gathering together” and its purpose to do everything that … had already decided is not difficult to combine in most languages. What complicates the picture is the addition of the phrase by your power and will. This explanation of the means, or as some might interpret it the attendant circumstances, may need to be expressed as a separate clause.

The first clause can be rendered as “they came together to do exactly what already had been decided would happen.” The parenthetical expression can then be rendered as “you could decide it this way because of your power and will.” An even fuller statement of this might be “you could decide exactly what would happen because you had the strength and because this is the way you wanted it.” It is difficult to know in all instances whether Greek boulē should be rendered “wanted it,” as a close translation of “will,” or whether the concept is closer to “design” or “plan,” in which case one could translate “because you had planned it this way.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .