The Tower of Babel

11 Now all the earth ^[a]used the same language and ^[b]the same words. ² And it came about, as they journeyed ^[c]east, that they found a plain in the land ^(A)of Shinar and ^[d]settled there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ^[e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used ^(B)tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^(C)will reach into heaven, and let’s make ^(D)a name for ourselves; otherwise we ^(E)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Now ^(F)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the ^[f]men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^[g](G)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ^[h]impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^[i](H)let Us go down and there ^(I)confuse their ^[j]language, so that they will not understand one another’s ^[k]speech.” ⁸ So the Lord ^(J)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore it was named ^[l](K)Babel, because there the Lord confused the ^[m]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The Day of Pentecost

2 When ^(A)the day of Pentecost ^[a]had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled ^(B)the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, ^[b]distributing themselves, and a tongue ^[c]rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all ^(C)filled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^(D)speak with different ^[d]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.

⁵ Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, ^(E)devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when ^(F)this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own ^[e]language. ^7 (G)They were amazed and astonished, saying, “^[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking ^(H)Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own ^[g]language ^[h]to which we were born? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and ^(I)Cappadocia, ^(J)Pontus and ^[i](K)Asia, ^10 (L)Phrygia and ^(M)Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around ^(N)Cyrene, and ^[j](O)visitors from Rome, both Jews and ^[k](P)proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own ^[l]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And ^(Q)they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others were jeering and saying, “^(R)They are full of ^[m]sweet wine!”

Peter’s Sermon

¹⁴ But Peter, taking his stand with ^(S)the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, ^[n]know this, and pay attention to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you assume, ^(T)since it is only the ^[o]third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: