Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something like flames of fire that were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages^[a] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them.

⁵ There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? ⁸ Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages? We are from different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused, asking each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

The Vision of Dry Bones

37 I felt the power of the Lord on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. ² He led me around among the bones, and I saw that there were many bones in the valley and that they were very dry. ³ Then he asked me, “Human, can these bones live?”

I answered, “Lord God, only you know.”

⁴ He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to the bones: I will cause breath to enter you so you will come to life. ⁶ I will put muscles on you and flesh on you and cover you with skin. Then I will put breath in you so you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. While I prophesied, there was a noise and a rattling. The bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked and saw muscles come on the bones, and flesh grew, and skin covered the bones. But there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind.^[a] Prophesy, human, and say to the wind, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Wind, come from the four winds, and breathe on these people who were killed so they can come back to life.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me. And the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a very large army.

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Human, these bones are like all the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone. We are destroyed.’ ¹² So, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Then I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ My people, you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and cause you to come up from them. ¹⁴ And I will put my Spirit inside you, and you will come to life. Then I will put you in your own land. And you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, says the Lord.’”

²² We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth. ²³ Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God’s promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means our bodies will be made free. ²⁴ We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have. ²⁵ But we are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.

²⁶ Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain. ²⁷ God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something like flames of fire that were separated and stood over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages^[a] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them.

⁵ There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? ⁸ Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages? We are from different places: ⁹ Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused, asking each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

²⁶ “I will send you the Helper^[a] from the Father; he is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me, ²⁷ and you also must tell people about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.

⁴ I have told you these things now so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not tell you these things at the beginning, because I was with you then. ⁵ Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper^[a] to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come. ⁸ When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. ⁹ He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. ¹⁰ He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. ¹¹ And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. ¹³ But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. ¹⁴ The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.