Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Believers Are Filled with the Holy Spirit

2 When Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover, came, all the believers were together in one place. ² Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying. ³ Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. ⁴ All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

⁵ Devout Jewish men from every nation were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ They gathered when they heard the wind. Each person was startled to recognize his own dialect when the disciples spoke.

⁷ Stunned and amazed, the people in the crowd said, “All of these men who are speaking are Galileans. ⁸ Why do we hear them speaking in our native dialects? ⁹ We’re Parthians, Medes, and Elamites. We’re people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the country near Cyrene in Libya. We’re Jewish people, converts to Judaism, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. We hear these men in our own languages as they tell about the miracles that God has done.”

¹² All of these devout men were stunned and puzzled. They asked each other, “What can this mean?” ¹³ Others said jokingly, “They’re drunk on sweet wine.”

Peter Talks to the Crowd

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the eleven apostles. In a loud voice he said to them, “Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand this, so pay attention to what I say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning. ¹⁶ Rather, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about:

²⁴ Moses went out and told the people what the Lord said. He gathered 70 of the leaders of the people and had them stand around the tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the ⌞column of⌟ smoke and spoke with him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the 70 leaders. When the Spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied, but they never prophesied again.

²⁶ Two men, named Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were on the list with the other leaders but hadn’t gone with them to the tent. The Spirit came to rest on them, too, and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷ Then a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ So Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant ever since he was a young man, spoke up and said, “Stop them, sir!”

²⁹ But Moses asked him, “Do you think you need to stand up for me? I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.”

³⁰ Then Moses and the leaders went back to the camp.

³ So I want you to know that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is cursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. ⁵ There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. ⁶ There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.

⁷ The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone. ⁸ The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. ⁹ To another person the same Spirit gives ⌞courageous⌟ faith. To another person the same Spirit gives the ability to heal. ¹⁰ Another can work miracles. Another can speak what God has revealed. Another can tell the difference between spirits. Another can speak in different kinds of languages. Another can interpret languages. ¹¹ There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person.

¹² For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we are Jewish or Greek, slave or free, God gave all of us one Spirit to drink.

The Believers Are Filled with the Holy Spirit

2 When Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover, came, all the believers were together in one place. ² Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying. ³ Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. ⁴ All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

⁵ Devout Jewish men from every nation were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ They gathered when they heard the wind. Each person was startled to recognize his own dialect when the disciples spoke.

⁷ Stunned and amazed, the people in the crowd said, “All of these men who are speaking are Galileans. ⁸ Why do we hear them speaking in our native dialects? ⁹ We’re Parthians, Medes, and Elamites. We’re people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the country near Cyrene in Libya. We’re Jewish people, converts to Judaism, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. We hear these men in our own languages as they tell about the miracles that God has done.”

¹² All of these devout men were stunned and puzzled. They asked each other, “What can this mean?” ¹³ Others said jokingly, “They’re drunk on sweet wine.”

Peter Talks to the Crowd

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the eleven apostles. In a loud voice he said to them, “Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand this, so pay attention to what I say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning. ¹⁶ Rather, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about:

Jesus Appears to the Disciples^(A)

¹⁹ That Sunday evening, the disciples were together behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad to see the Lord.

²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² After he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

³⁷ On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing ⌞in the temple courtyard⌟. He said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink. ³⁸ As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’ ” ³⁹ Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The Spirit was not yet evident, as it would be after Jesus had been glorified.