Book of Common Prayer

2 On the day of Pentecost these people were all in one place.

² Then, suddenly, a sound came from heaven. It was like a very strong wind blowing. It went all through the house where they were sitting.

³ And then they saw tongues like fire. These were divided and came on each one of the people there.

⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak the words of God in other languages as the Spirit spoke through them.

⁵ Crowds of Jews were staying in Jerusalem. They had come from every country in the world. They were good men who believed in God.

⁶ Many people came together when they heard the apostles speaking. They did not know what to think. Everyone heard someone speaking in his own language.

⁷ They were all very much surprised and said to each other, `These men who are speaking, are they not all from Galilee?

⁸ How is it then that each one of us hears the language of our own country?

^9-11 We people from the countries of Parthia and Media and Elam all hear the wonderful things God has done. So also do the people who live in the countries of Mesopotamia, and in Judea in Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, in Phrygia, and Pamphylia, and in Egypt, and in some parts of Lybia around Cyrene, people from the city of Rome who are now living in Jerusalem, both Jews and those who joined themselves to the Jews, the people from Crete and Arabia. These men from Galilee are speaking in our own languages.'

¹² They were all very much surprised and could hardly believe it. `What does this mean?' they asked each other.

¹³ Other people laughed about it and said, `These men have been drinking too much new wine.'

¹⁴ Peter stood up with the eleven apostles. He shouted, `You men of Judea and all who stay in Jerusalem, listen to me! I will tell you the truth.

¹⁵ You think that these men are drunk. That is not so. It is only nine o'clock in the morning.

¹⁶ The thing that has happened is what the prophet Joel told about.

¹⁷ He said, "God says, `In the last days I will send my Spirit on all people. I will speak through your sons and daughters. Your young men will see visions and your old men will have dreams.

¹⁸ In those days I will send my Spirit on the men and women who serve me and I will speak through them.

¹⁹ In the sky above and on the earth below I will show wonderful signs with blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

²⁰ The sun will be dark and the moon will be like blood. These things will happen before the day of the Lord comes. It will be a great day that will be remembered always.

²¹ And anyone who calls out to the Lord will be saved.' "

²⁷ Some of the Sadducees came to Jesus. (They say that people do not rise from death.)

²⁸ They came to ask Jesus a question. `Teacher,' they said, `Moses gave us this law: "If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother must marry the wife and raise a family for his brother."

²⁹ There were seven brothers. The first one married. He died and left no children.

³⁰ The second one married the wife.

³¹ Then the third one married her. All seven brothers married her. They all had no children and they died.

³² Last of all, the woman died also.

³³ Now then, when people rise from death, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.'

³⁴ Jesus said to them, `Men and women in this world marry.

³⁵ But men and women who are good enough to have a place in the next world and to be raised from death do not marry.

³⁶ They cannot die again. They are like angels. They are God's children because they have been raised from death.

³⁷ Even Moses showed that people do rise from death. It is in his book where we read about the small tree which burned. Moses says that the Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

³⁸ He is not the God of dead people, but of living people. All people are alive to him.'

³⁹ Some of the scribes said to him, `Teacher, what you say is right.'

⁴⁰ After that, people were afraid to ask him any more questions.