Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. ² And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And divided^[a] tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages^[b] as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.

⁵ Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when^[c] this sound occurred, the crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. ⁷ And they were astounded and astonished, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how do we hear, each one of us, in our own native language?^{[d] 9} Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those residing in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,^{[e] 10} Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and the Romans who were in town, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!” ¹² And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another,^[f] “What can this mean?”^{[g] 13} But others jeered and^[h] said, “They are full of sweet new wine!”

Peter’s Sermon on the Day of Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them, “Judean men, and all those who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words! ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you assume, because it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

A Valley of Dried Bones; A Renewed Nation of Israel

37 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me by the Spirit of Yahweh, and he let me rest^[a] in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. ² And he led me all around^[b] over them, and look, very many on the surface of the valley, and look, very dry. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[c] can these bones live?” And I said, “Lord Yahweh, you know.” ⁴ And he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and you must say to them, to the dry bones, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! ⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Look! I am bringing into you breath, and you will live! ⁶ And I will lay on you sinews, and I will let flesh come upon you, and I will cover you over with skin, and I will put breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

⁷ And I prophesied just as^[d] I had been commanded, and there was a sound at my prophesying, and look! A rattling, and they came together—the bones! Bone to its bone! ⁸ And I looked, and indeed, sinews were on them, and flesh went up,^[e] and skin covered over^[f] them upward,^[g] but breath was not in them. ⁹ And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man,^[h] and you must say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh from the four winds,^[i] “Come, O spirit and breath, on these dead ones, so that they may live!”’” ¹⁰ And I prophesied as^[j] he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they became alive, and they stood on their feet, a very, very large group.

¹¹ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[k] these bones are all of the house of Israel; look! they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; we are cut off as far as we are concerned.’^{[l] 12} Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel! ¹³ And you will know that I am Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people! ¹⁴ And I will put my breath into you so that you may live, and I will cause you to rest on your soil, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!”’ declares^[m] Yahweh.”

²² For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers agony together until now. ²³ Not only this, but we ourselves also, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves while we^[a] await eagerly our adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we await it eagerly with patient endurance.

²⁶ And likewise also, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as one ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unexpressed groanings. ²⁷ And the one who searches our hearts knows what the mindset of the Spirit is, because he intercedes on behalf of the saints according to the will of God.

Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. ² And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And divided^[a] tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages^[b] as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.

⁵ Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when^[c] this sound occurred, the crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. ⁷ And they were astounded and astonished, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how do we hear, each one of us, in our own native language?^{[d] 9} Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those residing in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,^{[e] 10} Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and the Romans who were in town, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!” ¹² And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another,^[f] “What can this mean?”^{[g] 13} But others jeered and^[h] said, “They are full of sweet new wine!”

Peter’s Sermon on the Day of Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them, “Judean men, and all those who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words! ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you assume, because it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father—that one will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

⁴ But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you about them.

Jesus’ Departure and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

“And I have not said these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and none of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he^[a] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me, ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I am going away to the Father and you will see me no more, ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹² I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them^[b] now. ¹³ But when he—the Spirit of truth—comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you the things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and will proclaim it^[c] to you. ¹⁵ Everything that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he takes from what is mine and will proclaim it^[d] to you.