¹³ And when they had entered, they went up ^(A)into the upper room where they were staying: ^(B)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^(C)Simon the Zealot; and ^(D)Judas the son of James. ^14 (E)These all continued with one ^[a]accord in prayer ^[b]and supplication, with ^(F)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with ^(G)His brothers.

Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When ^(A)the Day of Pentecost had fully come, ^(B)they were all ^[a]with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and ^(C)it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them ^[b]divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And ^(D)they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began ^(E)to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Crowd’s Response

⁵ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, ^(F)devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the ^(G)multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. ⁷ Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak ^(H)Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each in our own ^[c]language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and ^(I)Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and ^[d]Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” ¹² So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

¹³ Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon^(J)

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. ¹⁵ For these are not drunk, as you suppose, ^(K)since it is only ^[e]the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you ^(S)by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, ^(T)being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, ^(U)you ^[f]have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ^24 (V)whom God raised up, having ^[g]loosed the ^[h]pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

²⁹ “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you ^(Y)of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, ^(Z)and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, ^[i]according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, ^(AA)that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ^32 (AB)This Jesus God has raised up, ^(AC)of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore ^(AD)being exalted ^[j]to ^(AE)the right hand of God, and ^(AF)having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ^(AG)poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, ^(AI)they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, ^(AJ)“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the ^[k]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you and ^(AK)to your children, and ^(AL)to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this ^[l]perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who ^[m]gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ^42 (AM)And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ ^[n]doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came upon every soul, and ^(AN)many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and ^(AO)had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and ^[o]sold their possessions and goods, and ^(AP)divided^[p] them among all, as anyone had need.

^46 (AQ)So continuing daily with one accord ^(AR)in the temple, and ^(AS)breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And ^(AT)the Lord added ^[q]to the church daily those who were being saved.

³¹ And when they had prayed, ^(A)the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(B)and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Sharing in All Things

³² Now the multitude of those who believed ^(C)were of one heart and one soul; ^(D)neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with ^(E)great power the apostles gave ^(F)witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And ^(G)great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; ^(H)for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ^35 (I)and laid them at the apostles’ feet; ^(J)and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

³⁶ And ^[a]Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of ^[b]Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, ^37 (K)having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^(A)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^(B)to which I have called them.” ³ Then, ^(C)having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that ^(C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

³ So, ^(D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

⁶ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ^(F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, ^(G)who knows the heart, ^[a]acknowledged them by ^(H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ^9 (I)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(J)purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore, why do you test God ^(K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But ^(L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus ^[b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

¹² Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had ^(M)worked through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ And after they had ^[c]become silent, ^(N)James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: ^14 (O)Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

^18 [e]“Known to God from eternity are all His works. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(Q)I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who ^(R)are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we ^(S)write to them to abstain ^(T)from things polluted by idols, ^(U)from ^[f]sexual immorality, ^(V)from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, ^(W)being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

The Jerusalem Decree

²² Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named ^(X)Barsabas,^[g] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

²³ They wrote this letter by them:

Continuing Ministry in Syria

³⁰ So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. ³² Now Judas and Silas, themselves being ^(AE)prophets also, ^(AF)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. ³³ And after they had stayed there for a time, they were ^(AG)sent back with greetings from the brethren to ^[k]the apostles.

^34 [l]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. ^35 (AH)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.