Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2 When the day of Pentecost [C a harvest festival fifty days after Passover, celebrating the firstfruits of the crops (while on this day the firstfruits of the Spirit); Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10, 16] ·came [arrived], they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a ·noise [roar] like a ·strong [violent], ·blowing [rushing] wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw something like ·flames [L tongues] of fire ·that were separated [that were divided; or that spread out] and ·stood [came to rest] over each person there. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak ·different [other; or foreign] ·languages [L tongues] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them [C reversing the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel; Gen. 11:1–9].
5 There were some ·religious [devout; God-fearing] Jews ·staying [living] in Jerusalem who were from every ·country [nation] ·in the world [L under heaven]. 6 When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all ·surprised [or confused; bewildered], because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were ·completely [L astounded and] amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking ·from Galilee [L Galileans]? 8 Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own [native] languages? We are: 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia [C a Roman province, in present-day Turkey], 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, [visitors from] Rome 11 (both Jews and ·those who had become Jews [proselytes]), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own ·languages [tongues] about the ·great things [mighty acts] 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 [sneered], saying, “They have had too much [sweet; new] wine [C they accuse them of being intoxicated and speaking nonsense].”
Peter Speaks to the People
14 But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he ·spoke to [addressed] the crowd: “·My fellow Jews [or Judeans], and all of you who ·are [are living/staying] in Jerusalem, ·listen to me [L let this be known to you]. 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 [L the third hour of the day]! 16 But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:
17 ‘God says: In the last days
I will pour out my Spirit on all ·kinds of people [people; humanity; T flesh].
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 At that time I will pour out my Spirit
also on my male ·slaves [servants] and female ·slaves [servants],
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show ·miracles [wonders; marvels]
in the ·sky [or heaven] above
and ·signs [miracles] on the earth below:
blood, fire, and ·thick [L a cloud/billow of] smoke.
20 The sun will ·become dark [L be turned to darkness],
the moon ·red as blood [L to blood],
before the ·overwhelming [great] and glorious day of the Lord will come.
21 Then anyone who calls on [L the name of] the Lord will be saved [Joel 2:28–32].’
The Languages Confused
11 At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words. 2 As people ·moved [migrated] ·from the east [or eastward; 2:8; 4:16], they found a plain in the land of ·Babylonia [L Shinar] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and ·bake [burn; fire] them ·to make them hard [thoroughly; C in ancient times builders used mudbrick].” So they used bricks instead of stones, and ·tar [bitumen] instead of mortar. 4 Then they said to each other, “Let’s build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into ·the sky [heaven; C a ziggurat or stepped pyramid at whose top was a temple thought to be in heaven]. We will ·become famous [L make for ourselves a reputation/name]. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the ·people [L sons of man] had built. 6 The Lord said, “Now, these people are ·united [L one], all speaking ·the same [L one] language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. ·They will be able to do anything they want [L Nothing they want to do will be impossible for them]. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language [L there] so they will not be able to understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they ·stopped [ceased] building the city. 9 The place is called Babel [C sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused”] since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.
24 Lord, ·you have made many things;
with your wisdom you made them all [Prov. 8:22–31].
The earth is full of your ·riches [or creatures].
25 Look at the sea, so big and wide,
with creatures large and small, ·creeping [swarming] things that cannot be counted.
26 Ships travel over the ocean,
and there is Leviathan [C a sea monster and symbol of chaos; 74:14; Job 3:8; 41:1; Is. 27:1],
which you made to play there.
27 All these things ·depend [hope; wait] on you
to give them their food at the right time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up.
When you open your hand,
they are ·filled [satisfied] with good food.
29 When you ·turn away [L hide your face] from them,
they ·become frightened [are terrified].
When you take away their breath,
they ·die [expire] and turn to dust [Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7].
30 When you ·breathe [L send your breath/or Spirit] on them,
they are created [Gen. 2:7],
and you make the land new again.
31 May the glory of the Lord [C his manifest presence] be forever.
May the Lord ·enjoy [rejoice in] what he has made.
32 He just looks at the earth, and it ·shakes [trembles].
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will ·sing praises [make a psalm] to my God as long as I live.
34 May my ·thoughts [meditations] please him;
I ·am happy [will rejoice] in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be ·destroyed [obliterated] from the earth,
and let the wicked live no longer.
·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
14 For all those who are led by the Spirit of God are the ·children [or sons] of God. 15 ·The Spirit you received does not make you slaves again to fear [or You did not receive the spirit of slavery, leading to fear]; instead, you received the Spirit ·who adopts you as God’s children [L of adoption]. ·With [Through] that Spirit we cry out, “Abba [C Aramaic for “Father”; Mark 14:36], Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself ·joins with [or testifies to] our spirits to say we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we ·will receive blessings from God together with Christ [L are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ]. ·But we must [L …if indeed we] ·suffer as Christ suffered [share in his sufferings] so that we ·will have glory as Christ has glory [may share in his glory].
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2 When the day of Pentecost [C a harvest festival fifty days after Passover, celebrating the firstfruits of the crops (while on this day the firstfruits of the Spirit); Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10, 16] ·came [arrived], they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a ·noise [roar] like a ·strong [violent], ·blowing [rushing] wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw something like ·flames [L tongues] of fire ·that were separated [that were divided; or that spread out] and ·stood [came to rest] over each person there. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak ·different [other; or foreign] ·languages [L tongues] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them [C reversing the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel; Gen. 11:1–9].
5 There were some ·religious [devout; God-fearing] Jews ·staying [living] in Jerusalem who were from every ·country [nation] ·in the world [L under heaven]. 6 When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all ·surprised [or confused; bewildered], because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were ·completely [L astounded and] amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking ·from Galilee [L Galileans]? 8 Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own [native] languages? We are: 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia [C a Roman province, in present-day Turkey], 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, [visitors from] Rome 11 (both Jews and ·those who had become Jews [proselytes]), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own ·languages [tongues] about the ·great things [mighty acts] 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 [sneered], saying, “They have had too much [sweet; new] wine [C they accuse them of being intoxicated and speaking nonsense].”
Peter Speaks to the People
14 But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he ·spoke to [addressed] the crowd: “·My fellow Jews [or Judeans], and all of you who ·are [are living/staying] in Jerusalem, ·listen to me [L let this be known to you]. 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 [L the third hour of the day]! 16 But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:
17 ‘God says: In the last days
I will pour out my Spirit on all ·kinds of people [people; humanity; T flesh].
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 At that time I will pour out my Spirit
also on my male ·slaves [servants] and female ·slaves [servants],
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show ·miracles [wonders; marvels]
in the ·sky [or heaven] above
and ·signs [miracles] on the earth below:
blood, fire, and ·thick [L a cloud/billow of] smoke.
20 The sun will ·become dark [L be turned to darkness],
the moon ·red as blood [L to blood],
before the ·overwhelming [great] and glorious day of the Lord will come.
21 Then anyone who calls on [L the name of] the Lord will be saved [Joel 2:28–32].’
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
9 Jesus answered, “I have been with you ·a long time now [all this time; for so long]. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don’t come ·from me [on my own authority], but the Father ·lives [remains; abides] in me and does his own work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of ·the miracles I have done [L the works themselves]. 12 ·I tell you the truth [L Truly, truly, I say to you], whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [C They will do greater things because all believers—not just Jesus—will have the Holy Spirit living in them and empowering them.] 13 And if you ask for anything in my name [C asking “in my name” means acknowledging that Jesus is the mediator between God and human beings; the name represents the person], I will do it for you so that ·the Father’s glory will be shown [L the Father might be glorified] ·through [or in] the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
15 “·If you love me, you will obey my commands [or If you love me, obey my commands; C this may be either a declaration or a command]. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another ·Helper [Counselor; Advocate; C the Holy Spirit] to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot ·accept [receive] him, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he ·lives [remains; abides] with you and he will be ·in [or among] you.
25 “I have told you all these things while I ·am [remain; abide] with you. 26 But the ·Helper [Counselor; Advocate; see 14:15] will teach you ·everything [all things] and will ·cause you to remember [remind you of] all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
27 “I leave you peace [C the Greek word for “peace” reflects the Hebrew shalom, a typical Hebrew farewell; but Jesus’ peace, in the sense of wholeness, is also a characteristic of the messianic kingdom]; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
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