The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

2 When the day of Pentecost^(A) came, they were all together^(B) in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.^{(C) 3} They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit^(D) and began to speak in other tongues^[a](E) as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing^(F) Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed,^(G) they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?^{(H) 8} Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,^(I) Pontus^(J) and Asia,^{[b](K) 10} Phrygia^(L) and Pamphylia,^(M) Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene;^(N) visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”^(O)

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!^{(P) 16} No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth^(X) was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,^(Y) which God did among you through him,^(Z) as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge;^(AA) and you, with the help of wicked men,^[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross.^{(AB) 24} But God raised him from the dead,^(AC) freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.^{(AD) 25} David said about him:

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites,^(AG) I can tell you confidently that the patriarch^(AH) David died and was buried,^(AI) and his tomb is here^(AJ) to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.^{(AK) 31} Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.^{(AL) 32} God has raised this Jesus to life,^(AM) and we are all witnesses^(AN) of it. ³³ Exalted^(AO) to the right hand of God,^(AP) he has received from the Father^(AQ) the promised Holy Spirit^(AR) and has poured out^(AS) what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord^(AU) and Messiah.”^(AV)

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”^(AW)

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,^(AX) every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.^(AY) And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.^{(AZ) 39} The promise is for you and your children^(BA) and for all who are far off^(BB)—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”^{(BC) 41} Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number^(BD) that day.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching^(BE) and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread^(BF) and to prayer.^{(BG) 43} Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.^{(BH) 44} All the believers were together and had everything in common.^{(BI) 45} They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.^{(BJ) 46} Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.^(BK) They broke bread^(BL) in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.^(BM) And the Lord added to their number^(BN) daily those who were being saved.

Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

² To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen to me! The God of glory^(B) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.^{(C) 3} ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’^[a](D)

⁴ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.^{(E) 5} He gave him no inheritance here,^(F) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,^(G) even though at that time Abraham had no child. ⁶ God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.^{(H) 7} But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’^{[b](I) 8} Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.^(J) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.^(K) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,^(L) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.^(M)

⁹ “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,^(N) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.^(O) But God was with him^{(P) 10} and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.^(Q)

¹¹ “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.^{(R) 12} When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.^{(S) 13} On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,^(T) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.^{(U) 14} After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,^(V) seventy-five in all.^{(W) 15} Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.^{(X) 16} Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.^(Y)

¹⁷ “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.^{(Z) 18} Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’^{[c](AA) 19} He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.^(AB)

²⁰ “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.^[d] For three months he was cared for by his family.^{(AC) 21} When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.^{(AD) 22} Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^(AE) and was powerful in speech and action.

²³ “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷ “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?^{(AF) 28} Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^{[e] 29} When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.^(AG)

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^{(AH) 32} ‘I am the God of your fathers,^(AI) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(AJ)

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{(AK) 34} I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’^[g](AL)

³⁵ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’^(AM) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out of Egypt^(AN) and performed wonders and signs^(AO) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(AP) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(AQ)

³⁷ “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’^{[h](AR) 38} He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(AS) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(AT) and he received living words^(AU) to pass on to us.^(AV)

³⁹ “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(AW) 40} They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’^{[i](AX) 41} That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.^{(AY) 42} But God turned away from them^(AZ) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.^(BA) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law^(BC) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.^{(BD) 45} After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.^(BE) It remained in the land until the time of David,^{(BF) 46} who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.^{[k](BG) 47} But it was Solomon who built a house for him.^(BH)

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High^(BI) does not live in houses made by human hands.^(BJ) As the prophet says:

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people!^(BM) Your hearts^(BN) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(BO) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(BP)— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels^(BQ) but have not obeyed it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious^(BR) and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,^(BS) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.^{(BT) 56} “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open^(BU) and the Son of Man^(BV) standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city^(BW) and began to stone him.^(BX) Meanwhile, the witnesses^(BY) laid their coats^(BZ) at the feet of a young man named Saul.^(CA)

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”^{(CB) 60} Then he fell on his knees^(CC) and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”^(CD) When he had said this, he fell asleep.^(CE)