The Wilderness Years

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^(A)as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. ² Then the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^(B)long enough. Turn northward ⁴ and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^(C)your brothers, the people of Esau, ^(D)who live in Seir; and ^(E)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^(F)I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ^6 (G)You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^(H)He knows your going through this great wilderness. ^(I)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ ⁸ So ^(J)we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^(K)the Arabah road from ^(L)Elath and ^(M)Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ And the Lord said to me, ^(N)‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^(O)Ar to ^(P)the people of Lot for a possession.’ ¹⁰ (^(Q)The Emim formerly lived there, ^(R)a people great and many, and tall ^(S)as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^(T)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (U)The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^(V)as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now rise up and go over ^(W)the brook Zered.’ So we went over ^(X)the brook Zered. ¹⁴ And the time from our leaving ^(Y)Kadesh-barnea until we crossed ^(Z)the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(AA)until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

¹⁶ “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^(AB)do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(AC)the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of ^(AD)Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— ^21 (AE)a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,^[a] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^(AF)the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ As for ^(AG)the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^(AH)Gaza, ^(AI)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^(AJ)go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^(AK)Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^(AL)contend with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AM)the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

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:

The Defeat of King Sihon

²⁶ “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^(A)Kedemoth to Sihon the king of ^(B)Heshbon, ^(C)with words of peace, saying, ^27 (D)‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. ^28 (E)You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, ^29 (F)as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ ³⁰ But ^(G)Sihon the king of ^(H)Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^(I)hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. ³¹ And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ ³² Then ^(J)Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. ³³ And ^(K)the Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^(L)we defeated him and his sons and all his people. ³⁴ And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction^[a] every ^(M)city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. ^36 (N)From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^(O)the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^(P)The Lord our God gave all into our hands. ³⁷ Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^(Q)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

The Defeat of King Og

3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^(R)Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^(S)Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to ^(T)Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ ³ So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, ^(U)and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ^(V)the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^(A)a man attested to you by God ^(B)with ^(C)mighty works and wonders and signs that ^(D)God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus,^{[a] (E)}delivered up according to ^(F)the definite plan and ^(G)foreknowledge of God, ^(H)you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ^24 (I)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^(J)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 ^(Q)the patriarch David ^(R)that he both died and ^(S)was buried, and ^(T)his tomb is with us to this day. ^30 (U)Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^(V)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 ^(W)he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³² This Jesus ^(X)God raised up, ^(Y)and of that we all are witnesses. ^33 (Z)Being therefore ^(AA)exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^(AB)the Father ^(AC)the promise of the Holy Spirit, ^(AD)he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For ^(AE)David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

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

³⁷ Now when ^(AJ)they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ^(AK)what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, ^(AL)“Repent and ^(AM)be baptized every one of you ^(AN)in the name of Jesus Christ ^(AO)for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^(AP)the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For ^(AQ)the promise is for you and ^(AR)for your children and for all ^(AS)who are far off, everyone ^(AT)whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^(AU)“Save yourselves from this ^(AV)crooked generation.” ⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and ^(AW)there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And ^(AX)they devoted themselves to the apostles' ^(AY)teaching and the ^(AZ)fellowship, to ^(BA)the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³ And awe^[b] came upon every soul, and ^(BB)many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and ^(BC)had all things in common. ⁴⁵ And ^(BD)they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ And day by day, ^(BE)attending the temple ^(BF)together and ^(BG)breaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^(BH)with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and ^(BI)having favor with all the people. And the Lord ^(BJ)added to their number ^(BK)day by day those who ^(BL)were being saved.