Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,
2 When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit [a]kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].
5 Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout and God-fearing men from every country under heaven.
6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect.
7 And they were beside themselves with amazement, saying, Are not all these who are talking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own (particular) dialect to which we were born?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and [the province of] Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and the transient residents from Rome, both Jews and the proselytes [to Judaism from other religions],
11 Cretans and Arabians too—we all hear them speaking in our own native tongues [and telling of] the mighty works of God!
12 And all were beside themselves with amazement and were puzzled and bewildered, saying one to another, What can this mean?
13 But others made a joke of it and derisively said, They are simply drunk and full of sweet [intoxicating] wine.
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: You Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be [explained] to you so that you will know and understand; listen closely to what I have to say.
15 For these men are not drunk, as you imagine, for it is [only] the third hour (about 9:00 a.m.) of the day;
16 But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [[b]telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions ([c]divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [[d]divinely suggested] dreams.
18 Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [[e]telling forth the divine counsels and [f]predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom].
19 And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor;
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes—that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].
21 And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord [[g]invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord—Christ] shall be saved.(A)
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 midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 And He caused me to pass round about among them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley or plain, and behold, 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 you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.(B)
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath and spirit to enter you, and you shall live;
6 And I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin, and I will put breath and spirit in you, and you [dry bones] shall live; and you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise and behold, a shaking and trembling and a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked and behold, there were sinews upon [the bones] and flesh came upon them and skin covered them over, but there was no breath or spirit in them.
9 Then said He to me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath and spirit came into [the bones], and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.(C)
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 cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.(D)
13 And you shall know that I am the Lord [your Sovereign Ruler], when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people.
14 And I shall put My Spirit in you and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then you shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord.
24 O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are swarms of innumerable creeping things, creatures both small and great.
26 There go the ships of the sea, and Leviathan (the sea monster), which You have formed to sport in it.
27 These all wait and are dependent upon You, that You may give them their food in due season.
28 When You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, and they are filled with good things.
29 When You hide Your face, they are troubled and dismayed; when You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When You send forth Your Spirit and give them breath, they are created, and You replenish the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works—
32 Who looks on the earth, and it quakes and trembles, Who touches the mountains, and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
22 We know that the whole creation [of irrational creatures] has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.(A)
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the firstfruits of the [Holy] Spirit [a foretaste of the blissful things to come] groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies [from sensuality and the grave, which will reveal] our adoption (our manifestation as God’s sons).
24 For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees?
25 But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.
26 So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.
27 And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.(B)
2 And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,
2 When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit [a]kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].
5 Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout and God-fearing men from every country under heaven.
6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect.
7 And they were beside themselves with amazement, saying, Are not all these who are talking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own (particular) dialect to which we were born?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and [the province of] Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and the transient residents from Rome, both Jews and the proselytes [to Judaism from other religions],
11 Cretans and Arabians too—we all hear them speaking in our own native tongues [and telling of] the mighty works of God!
12 And all were beside themselves with amazement and were puzzled and bewildered, saying one to another, What can this mean?
13 But others made a joke of it and derisively said, They are simply drunk and full of sweet [intoxicating] wine.
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: You Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be [explained] to you so that you will know and understand; listen closely to what I have to say.
15 For these men are not drunk, as you imagine, for it is [only] the third hour (about 9:00 a.m.) of the day;
16 But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [[b]telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions ([c]divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [[d]divinely suggested] dreams.
18 Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [[e]telling forth the divine counsels and [f]predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom].
19 And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor;
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes—that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].
21 And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord [[g]invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord—Christ] shall be saved.(A)
26 But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.
27 But you also will testify and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
4 But I have told you these things now, so that when they occur you will remember that I told you of them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
5 But now I am going to Him Who sent Me, yet none of you asks Me, Where are You going?
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts [taken complete possession of them].
7 However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].
8 And when He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) and about judgment:
9 About sin, because they do not believe in Me [trust in, rely on, and adhere to Me];
10 About righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God), because I go to My Father, and you will see Me no longer;
11 About judgment, because the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world [Satan] is judged and condemned and sentence already is passed upon him.
12 I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them or to take them upon you or to grasp them now.
13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
14 He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
15 Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation