A New Apostle Is Chosen

¹² Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. (This mountain is about half a mile from Jerusalem.) ¹³ When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there. ¹⁴ They all continued praying together. Some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers were also there with the apostles.

¹⁵ During this time there was a meeting of the believers. (There were about 120 of them.) Peter stood up and said, ^16-17 “Brothers, in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit said through David that something must happen. The Spirit was talking about Judas, one of our own group, who served together with us. The Spirit said that Judas would lead men to arrest Jesus. ¹⁸ (Judas bought a field with the money he got for his evil act. But Judas fell to his death, his body burst open, and all his intestines poured out.) ¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem learned about this. This is why they named the field Akeldama. In their language Akeldama means “field of blood.”) ²⁰ In the book of Psalms, this is written:

And it is also written:

^21-22 “So now a man must join us and become a witness of Jesus’ being raised from death. He must be one of the men who were part of our group during all the time the Lord Jesus was with us. He must have been with us from the time John began to baptize people until the day when Jesus was taken up from us to heaven.”

²³ They put the names of two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. The other was Matthias. ^24-25 The apostles prayed, “Lord, you know the minds of everyone. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to do this work. Judas turned away from it and went where he belongs. Lord, show us which one should take his place as an apostle!” ²⁶ Then they used lots to choose between them, and the lots showed that Matthias was the one. So he became an apostle with the other 11.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise came from heaven. It sounded like a strong wind blowing. This noise filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something that looked like flames of fire. The flames were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages. The Holy Spirit was giving them the power to speak these languages.

⁵ There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these men that we hear speaking from Galilee?^{[a] 8} But each of us hears them in his own language. How is this possible? We are from different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete and Arabia. But we hear these men telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the 11 apostles. In a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you by the miracles, wonders, and signs God did through him. You all know this, because it happened right here among you. ²³ Jesus was given to you, and you killed him. With the help of evil men you nailed him to a cross. But God knew all this would happen. This was God’s plan which he had made long ago. ²⁴ God raised Jesus from death. God set him free from the pain of death. Death could not hold him. ²⁵ For David said this about him:

²⁹ “Brothers, I can tell you truly about David, our ancestor. He died and was buried. His grave is still here with us today. ³⁰ David was a prophet and knew what God had said. God had promised David that he would make a person from David’s family a king just as he was.^{[b] 31} David knew this before it happened. That is why he said:

David was talking about the Christ rising from death. ³² So Jesus is the One who God raised from death! And we are all witnesses to this. ³³ Jesus was lifted up to heaven and is now at God’s right side. The Father has given the Holy Spirit to Jesus as he promised. So now Jesus has poured out that Spirit. This is what you see and hear. ³⁴ David was not the one who was lifted up to heaven. But he said:

³⁶ “So, all the people of Israel should know this truly: God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. He is the man you nailed to the cross!”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were sick at heart. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for all who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself.”

⁴⁰ Peter warned them with many other words. He begged them, “Save yourselves from the evil of today’s people!” ⁴¹ Then those people who accepted what Peter said were baptized. About 3,000 people were added to the number of believers that day.