Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

2 Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the Day of Pentecost had now arrived.^[a] As the believers met together that day, ² suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they didn’t know,^[b] for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ Many godly Jews were in Jerusalem that day for the religious celebrations, having arrived from many nations. ⁶ And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, crowds came running to see what it was all about, and were stunned to hear their own languages being spoken by the disciples.

⁷ “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “For these men are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking all the native languages of the lands where we were born! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, men from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the Cyrene language areas of Libya, visitors from Rome—both Jews and Jewish converts— ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabians. And we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”

¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³ But others in the crowd were mocking. “They’re drunk, that’s all!” they said.

¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen, all of you, visitors and residents of Jerusalem alike! ¹⁵ Some of you are saying these men are drunk! It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that! People don’t get drunk by 9:00 A.M.! ¹⁶ No! What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel— ¹⁷ ‘In the last days,’ God said, ‘I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. ¹⁸ Yes, the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and clouds of smoke; ²⁰ the sun shall turn black and the moon blood-red before that awesome Day of the Lord arrives. ²¹ But anyone who asks for mercy from the Lord shall have it and shall be saved.’

²⁴ So Moses left the Tabernacle and reported Jehovah’s words to the people; and he gathered the seventy elders and placed them around the Tabernacle. ²⁵ And the Lord came down in the Cloud and talked with Moses, and the Lord took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied for some time.

²⁶ But two of the seventy—Eldad and Medad—were still in the camp, and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied there. ²⁷ Some young men ran and told Moses what was happening, ²⁸ and Joshua (the son of Nun), one of Moses’ personally chosen assistants, protested, “Sir, make them stop!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I only wish that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!” ³⁰ Then Moses returned to the camp with the elders of Israel.

²⁴ O Lord, what a variety you have made! And in wisdom you have made them all! The earth is full of your riches.

²⁵ There before me lies the mighty ocean, teeming with life of every kind, both great and small. ²⁶ And look! See the ships! And over there, the whale you made to play in the sea. ²⁷ Every one of these depends on you to give them daily food. ²⁸ You supply it, and they gather it. You open wide your hand to feed them, and they are satisfied with all your bountiful provision.

²⁹ But if you turn away from them, then all is lost. And when you gather up their breath, they die and turn again to dust.

³⁰ Then you send your Spirit, and new life is born^[a] to replenish all the living of the earth. ³¹ Praise God forever! How he must rejoice in all his work! ³² The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains burst into flame at his touch.

³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise God to my last breath! ³⁴ May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him, for he is the source of all my joy.

³⁵ Let all sinners perish—all who refuse to praise him. But I will praise him. Hallelujah!

³ But now you are meeting people who claim to speak messages from the Spirit of God. How can you know whether they are really inspired by God or whether they are fakes? Here is the test: no one speaking by the power of the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” and really mean it, unless the Holy Spirit is helping him.

⁴ Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. ⁶ There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are his. ⁷ The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church.

⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; someone else may be especially good at studying and teaching, and this is his gift from the same Spirit. ⁹ He gives special faith to another, and to someone else the power to heal the sick. ¹⁰ He gives power for doing miracles to some, and to others power to prophesy and preach. He gives someone else the power to know whether evil spirits are speaking through those who claim to be giving God’s messages—or whether it is really the Spirit of God who is speaking. Still another person is able to speak in languages he never learned; and others, who do not know the language either, are given power to understand what he is saying. ¹¹ It is the same and only Holy Spirit who gives all these gifts and powers, deciding which each one of us should have.

¹² Our bodies have many parts, but the many parts make up only one body when they are all put together. So it is with the “body” of Christ. ¹³ Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit.

2 Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the Day of Pentecost had now arrived.^[a] As the believers met together that day, ² suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they didn’t know,^[b] for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ Many godly Jews were in Jerusalem that day for the religious celebrations, having arrived from many nations. ⁶ And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, crowds came running to see what it was all about, and were stunned to hear their own languages being spoken by the disciples.

⁷ “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “For these men are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking all the native languages of the lands where we were born! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, men from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the Cyrene language areas of Libya, visitors from Rome—both Jews and Jewish converts— ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabians. And we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”

¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³ But others in the crowd were mocking. “They’re drunk, that’s all!” they said.

¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen, all of you, visitors and residents of Jerusalem alike! ¹⁵ Some of you are saying these men are drunk! It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that! People don’t get drunk by 9:00 A.M.! ¹⁶ No! What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel— ¹⁷ ‘In the last days,’ God said, ‘I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. ¹⁸ Yes, the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and clouds of smoke; ²⁰ the sun shall turn black and the moon blood-red before that awesome Day of the Lord arrives. ²¹ But anyone who asks for mercy from the Lord shall have it and shall be saved.’

¹⁹ That evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, in fear of the Jewish leaders, when suddenly Jesus was standing there among them! After greeting them, ²⁰ he showed them his hands and side. And how wonderful was their joy as they saw their Lord!

²¹ He spoke to them again and said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² Then he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven.”

³⁷ On the last day, the climax of the holidays, Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water shall flow from the inmost being of anyone who believes in me.” ³⁹ (He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him; but the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet returned to his glory in heaven.)