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Acts 4:11
ESV This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
NIV Jesus is " ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
NASB He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.
CSB This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.
NLT For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’
KJV This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
NKJV This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

What does Acts 4:11 mean?

This quote is from Psalm 118:22: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." The psalm is a celebration of the provision of God. Verses 8–9 read:
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
It's unclear if the chief priests, elders, and scribes remember that serving God comes before serving men, but clearly, Peter lives it. He will stand and accuse the Jewish leaders of murdering their own Messiah because he trusts that this is what Jesus wants him to do.

The Jewish leaders often speak at cross-purposes with Jesus and His followers regarding the temple. The Sanhedrin thinks the worship of God is based in the temple and the traditions. When Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), the Jewish leaders have something to twist later into a formal charge (Mark 14:57–58). Not only is it unspeakable for a Jew to damage the temple, under Roman law it is a crime punishable by death to deface a place of worship.

Soon, Jews will tie Stephen to Jesus' words (Acts 6:12–14). Stephen will point out that Israelites worshiped God from the time of Abraham until the time of Moses before they had a tabernacle. And God didn't even ask for a temple! David decided He needed one. Even Solomon, while dedicating the temple, pointed out that no structure built by human hands could contain the glory of God (1 Kings 8:27). The temple is a convenient place for people to come and worship, but respecting it is not equivalent to worshiping God (Acts 7:1–50).

It is Jesus who is the cornerstone of proper God-worship. The Jewish rulers would have recognized this if they'd spent less time worrying about tradition and more time reading their own prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament gave very clear descriptions of the Jewish Messiah. But the leaders of their time ignored and killed them. And so when the priests, scribes, and elders standing before Peter faced their Messiah, they didn't recognize Him (Acts 7:51–53).
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