Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2 When the day of Pentecost was being celebrated,[a] all of them were together in one place. 2 Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw tongues like flames[b] of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign[c] languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.
5 Now devout Jews from every nation on earth[d] were living in Jerusalem. 6 When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples[e] speaking in his own language. 7 Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they? 8 So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language:[f] 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, 11 Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?”
12 All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”
13 But others kept saying in derision, “They’re drunk on sweet wine!”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up among the eleven apostles[g] and raised his voice to address them:
“Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand something, so pay close attention to my words. 15 These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it’s only nine o’clock in the morning.[h] 16 Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.[i]
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will even pour out my Spirit
on my slaves, men and women alike,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will display wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below:
blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon turn to blood,
before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.[j]
21 Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord[k] will be saved.’[l]
The Tower in Babylon
11 There was a time when the entire earth spoke a common language with an identical vocabulary. 2 As people[a] migrated westward,[b] they came across a plain in the region of Shinar[c] and settled there. 3 They told each other, “Come on! Let’s burn bricks thoroughly.” They used bricks for stone and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come on! Let’s build ourselves a city and a tower, with its summit in the heavens, and let’s make a name for ourselves[d] so we won’t be scattered over the surface of the whole earth.”
5 However, the Lord descended to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. 6 The Lord said, “Look! They are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.[e] Nothing that they have a mind to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come on! Let’s go down there and confuse their language, so that they won’t understand each other’s speech.”
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the whole earth, so that they had to stop building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babylon,[f] because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the surface of the entire earth.
24 How numerous are your works, Lord!
You have made them all wisely;
the earth is filled with your creations.[a]
25 There is the deep and wide sea,
teeming with numberless creatures,
living things small and great.
26 There, the ships pass through;
Leviathan, which you created, frolics in it.
27 All of them look to you
to provide them[b] their food at the proper time.
28 They receive what you give them;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you withdraw your favor,[c]
they are disappointed;
Take away their breath,
and[d] they die[e] and return to dust.
30 When you send your spirit,[f] they are[g] created,
and you replenish the surface of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works!
32 He looks at the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord with my whole being;[h]
I will sing to my God continually!
34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him;
indeed, I will rejoice in the Lord!
35 May sinners disappear from the land
and the wicked live no longer.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah!
14 For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba![a] Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah[b]—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2 When the day of Pentecost was being celebrated,[a] all of them were together in one place. 2 Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw tongues like flames[b] of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign[c] languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.
5 Now devout Jews from every nation on earth[d] were living in Jerusalem. 6 When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples[e] speaking in his own language. 7 Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they? 8 So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language:[f] 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, 11 Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?”
12 All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”
13 But others kept saying in derision, “They’re drunk on sweet wine!”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up among the eleven apostles[g] and raised his voice to address them:
“Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand something, so pay close attention to my words. 15 These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it’s only nine o’clock in the morning.[h] 16 Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.[i]
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will even pour out my Spirit
on my slaves, men and women alike,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will display wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below:
blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon turn to blood,
before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.[j]
21 Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord[k] will be saved.’[l]
8 Philip told him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us.”
9 “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” Jesus asked him. “The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 You believe, don’t you, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I don’t speak on my own. It is the Father who dwells in me and who carries out his work. 11 Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me[a] because of what I’ve been doing.[b] 12 Truly, I tell all of you[c] emphatically, the one who believes in me will also do what I’m doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I’m going to the Father. 13 I’ll do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me[d] for anything in my name, I will do it.”
The Promise of the Helper
15 “If you love me, keep[e] my commandments. 16 I will ask the Father to give[f] you another Helper, to be with you always. 17 He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in[g] you.
25 “I have told you this while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you. 27 I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.