Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise came from heaven. It sounded like a strong wind blowing. This noise filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something that looked like flames of fire. The flames were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages. The Holy Spirit was giving them the power to speak these languages.

⁵ There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these men that we hear speaking from Galilee?^{[a] 8} But each of us hears them in his own language. How is this possible? We are from different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete and Arabia. But we hear these men telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the 11 apostles. In a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

The Languages Confused

11 At this time the whole world spoke one language. Everyone used the same words. ² As people moved from the East, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia. They settled there to live.

³ They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and bake them to make them hard.” So they used bricks instead of stones, and tar instead of mortar. ⁴ Then they said to each other, “Let’s build for ourselves a city and a tower. And let’s make the top of the tower reach high into the sky. We will become famous. If we do this, we will not be scattered over all the earth.”

⁵ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. ⁶ The Lord said, “Now, these people are united. They all speak the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. They will be able to do anything they want. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language. Then they will not be able to understand each other.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth. And they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the place is called Babel.^[a] So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over all the whole world.

¹⁴ The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. ¹⁵ The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us children of God. And with that Spirit we say, “Father, dear Father.”^{[a] 16} And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ If we are God’s children, then we will receive the blessings God has for us. We will receive these things from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered, and then we will have glory as Christ has glory.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise came from heaven. It sounded like a strong wind blowing. This noise filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something that looked like flames of fire. The flames were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages. The Holy Spirit was giving them the power to speak these languages.

⁵ There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these men that we hear speaking from Galilee?^{[a] 8} But each of us hears them in his own language. How is this possible? We are from different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete and Arabia. But we hear these men telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the 11 apostles. In a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

⁹ Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me. The Father lives in me, and he is doing his own work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done. ¹² I tell you the truth. He who believes in me will do the same things that I do. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you. Then the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will do the things I command. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper.^[a] He will give you this Helper to be with you forever. ¹⁷ The Helper is the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it does not see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you and he will be in you.

²⁵ “I have told you all these things while I am with you. ²⁶ But the Helper will teach you everything. He will cause you to remember all the things I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.

²⁷ “I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled. Don’t be afraid.