Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Day of Pentecost

2 When the day of ^[a]Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, ² and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. ⁴ And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other ^[b]tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately].

⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout and God-fearing men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound was heard, a crowd gathered, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing those in the upper room speaking in his own language or dialect. ⁷ They were completely astonished, saying, “Look! Are not all of these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears in our own language or native dialect? ⁹ [Among us there are] Parthians, Medes and Elamites, and people of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and ^[c]Asia [Minor], ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and the visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism), ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we all hear them speaking in our [native] tongues about the mighty works of God!” ¹² And they were beside themselves with amazement and were greatly perplexed, saying one to another, “What could this mean?” ¹³ But others were laughing and joking and ridiculing them, saying, “They are full of sweet wine and are drunk!”

Peter’s Sermon

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be explained to you; listen closely and pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is [only] the third hour of the day (9:00 a.m.); ¹⁶ but this is [the beginning of] what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. ² He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”^{(A) 4} Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’^{(B) 5} Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make ^[a]breath enter you so that you may come to life. ⁶ I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.^(C)

The Vision Explained

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and make you come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.^{(D) 13} Then you will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and made you come up out of your graves, My people. ¹⁴ I will put My ^[b]Spirit in you and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and fulfilled it,” says the Lord.’”

²² For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now.^{(A) 23} And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].^{(B) 24} For in this hope we were saved [by faith]. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.

Our Victory in Christ

²⁶ In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of ^[a]God’s people in accordance with God’s will.^(C)

The Day of Pentecost

2 When the day of ^[a]Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, ² and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. ⁴ And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other ^[b]tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately].

⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout and God-fearing men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound was heard, a crowd gathered, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing those in the upper room speaking in his own language or dialect. ⁷ They were completely astonished, saying, “Look! Are not all of these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears in our own language or native dialect? ⁹ [Among us there are] Parthians, Medes and Elamites, and people of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and ^[c]Asia [Minor], ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and the visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism), ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we all hear them speaking in our [native] tongues about the mighty works of God!” ¹² And they were beside themselves with amazement and were greatly perplexed, saying one to another, “What could this mean?” ¹³ But others were laughing and joking and ridiculing them, saying, “They are full of sweet wine and are drunk!”

Peter’s Sermon

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be explained to you; listen closely and pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is [only] the third hour of the day (9:00 a.m.); ¹⁶ but this is [the beginning of] what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

²⁶ “But when the ^[a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me. ²⁷ But you will testify also and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

⁴ I have told you these things [now], so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁵ “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts [and taken complete possession of them]. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the ^[a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment: ⁹ about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; ¹⁰ about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹ about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now. ¹³ But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. ¹⁴ He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.