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 do this.

⁵ There were some godly Jews in Jerusalem at this time. They were from every country in the world. ⁶ A large crowd came together because they heard the noise. They were surprised because, as the apostles were speaking, everyone heard in their own language.

⁷ They were all amazed at this. They did not understand how the apostles could do this. They said, “Look! These men we hear speaking are all from Galilee.^{[a] 8} But we hear them in our own languages. How is this possible? We are from all these different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near the city of Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others have changed their religion to worship God like Jews. We are from these different countries, but we can hear these men in our own languages! We can all understand the great things they are saying about God.”

¹² The people were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What is happening?” ¹³ But others were laughing at the apostles, saying they were drunk from too much wine.

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles. He spoke loudly so that all the people could hear. He said, “My Jewish brothers and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me. I will tell you something you need to know. Listen carefully. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you think; it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what you see happening here today. This is what he wrote:

²⁴ So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy.^[a] But that was the only time they ever did this.

²⁶ Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)

²⁹ But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.

³ So I tell you that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different ways to serve, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ And there are different ways that God works in people, but it is the same God who works in all of us to do everything.

⁷ Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person. The Spirit gives this to each one to help others. ⁸ The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. And the same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives faith to one person and to another he gives gifts of healing. ¹⁰ The Spirit gives to one person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy, and to another the ability to judge what is from the Spirit and what is not. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages, and to another the ability to interpret those languages. ¹¹ One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what to give each one.

The Body of Christ

¹² A person has only one body, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts, but all those parts are still just one body. Christ is like that too. ¹³ Some of us are Jews and some of us are not; some of us are slaves and some of us are free. But we were all baptized to become one body through one Spirit. And we were all given^[a] the one Spirit.

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 do this.

⁵ There were some godly Jews in Jerusalem at this time. They were from every country in the world. ⁶ A large crowd came together because they heard the noise. They were surprised because, as the apostles were speaking, everyone heard in their own language.

⁷ They were all amazed at this. They did not understand how the apostles could do this. They said, “Look! These men we hear speaking are all from Galilee.^{[a] 8} But we hear them in our own languages. How is this possible? We are from all these different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near the city of Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others have changed their religion to worship God like Jews. We are from these different countries, but we can hear these men in our own languages! We can all understand the great things they are saying about God.”

¹² The people were all amazed and confused. They asked each other, “What is happening?” ¹³ But others were laughing at the apostles, saying they were drunk from too much wine.

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles. He spoke loudly so that all the people could hear. He said, “My Jewish brothers and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me. I will tell you something you need to know. Listen carefully. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you think; it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what you see happening here today. This is what he wrote:

Jesus Appears to His Followers^(A)

¹⁹ The day was Sunday, and that same evening the followers were together. They had the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them. He said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ As soon as he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the followers saw the Lord, they were very happy.

²¹ Then Jesus said again, “Peace be with you. It was the Father who sent me, and I am now sending you in the same way.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven. If there is anyone whose sins you don’t forgive, their sins are not forgiven.”

Jesus Talks About the Holy Spirit

³⁷ The last day of the festival came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty may come to me and drink. ³⁸ If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from their heart. That is what the Scriptures say.” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given to people, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.