⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and ^(A)had all things in common.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in ^(A)the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, ^(B)and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower ^(C)with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And ^(D)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^(E)let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” ⁸ So ^(F)the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called ^(G)Babel, because there the Lord confused^[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Shem's Descendants

^10 (H)These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. ¹¹ And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³ And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. ²¹ And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. ²³ And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When ^(I)Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵ And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ When ^(J)Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah's Descendants

²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was ^(K)Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, ^(L)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah ^(M)took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together ^(N)from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When ^(A)the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like ^(B)a mighty rushing wind, and ^(C)it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues ^(D)as of fire appeared to them and rested^[a] on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all ^(E)filled with the Holy Spirit and began ^(F)to speak in other tongues ^(G)as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And ^(H)at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And ^(I)they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking ^(J)Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and ^(K)Medes and ^(L)Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and ^(M)proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And ^(N)all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others ^(O)mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, ^(P)since it is only the third hour of the day.^{[b] 16} But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^(Y)a man attested to you by God ^(Z)with ^(AA)mighty works and wonders and signs that ^(AB)God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus,^{[c] (AC)}delivered up according to ^(AD)the definite plan and ^(AE)foreknowledge of God, ^(AF)you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ^24 (AG)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^(AH)it was not possible for him to be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning him,

²⁹ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about ^(AO)the patriarch David ^(AP)that he both died and ^(AQ)was buried, and ^(AR)his tomb is with us to this day. ^30 (AS)Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^(AT)God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that ^(AU)he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³² This Jesus ^(AV)God raised up, ^(AW)and of that we all are witnesses. ^33 (AX)Being therefore ^(AY)exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^(AZ)the Father ^(BA)the promise of the Holy Spirit, ^(BB)he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For ^(BC)David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^(BE)God has made him ^(BF)both Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^(BG)whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when ^(BH)they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ^(BI)what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, ^(BJ)“Repent and ^(BK)be baptized every one of you ^(BL)in the name of Jesus Christ ^(BM)for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^(BN)the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For ^(BO)the promise is for you and ^(BP)for your children and for all ^(BQ)who are far off, everyone ^(BR)whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^(BS)“Save yourselves from this ^(BT)crooked generation.” ⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and ^(BU)there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And ^(BV)they devoted themselves to the apostles' ^(BW)teaching and the ^(BX)fellowship, to ^(BY)the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³ And awe^[d] came upon every soul, and ^(BZ)many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and ^(CA)had all things in common. ⁴⁵ And ^(CB)they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ And day by day, ^(CC)attending the temple ^(CD)together and ^(CE)breaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^(CF)with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and ^(CG)having favor with all the people. And the Lord ^(CH)added to their number ^(CI)day by day those who ^(CJ)were being saved.

³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^(A)the bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(B)one body and ^(C)one Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^(D)hope that belongs to your call— ^5 (E)one Lord, ^(F)one faith, ^(G)one baptism, ^6 (H)one God and Father of all, ^(I)who is over all and through all and in all.