Acts of the Apostles 2

¹ When Pentecost day came round, they had al met together,

² when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which fil ed the entire house inwhich they were sitting;

³ and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each ofthem.

⁴ They were al fil ed with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave thempower to express themselves.

⁵ Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven,

⁶ and at this sound they al assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking hisown language.

⁷ They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely,' they said, 'al these men speaking are Galileans?

⁸ How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language?

⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome-

¹¹ Jews and proselytes alike -- Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language aboutthe marvels of God.'

¹² Everyone was amazed and perplexed; they asked one another what it all meant.

¹³ Some, however, laughed it off. 'They have been drinking too much new wine,' they said.

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice: 'Men of Judaea, and al youwho live in Jerusalem, make no mistake about this, but listen careful y to what I say.

¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you imagine; why, it is only the third hour of the day.

¹⁶ On the contrary, this is what the prophet was saying:

¹⁷ In the last days -- the Lord declares -- I shal pour out my Spirit on al humanity. Your sons anddaughters shal prophesy, your young people shal see visions, your old people dream dreams.

¹⁸ Even on the slaves, men and women, shall I pour out my Spirit.

¹⁹ I will show portents in the sky above and signs on the earth below.

²⁰ The sun wil be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the day of the Lord comes, thatgreat and terrible Day.

²¹ And al who cal on the name of the Lord will be saved.

²² 'Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you byGod by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as youknow.

²³ This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you tookand had crucified and kil ed by men outside the Law.

²⁴ But God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be heldin its power since,

²⁵ as David says of him: I kept the Lord before my sight always, for with him at my right hand nothing canshake me.

²⁶ So my heart rejoiced my tongue delighted; my body, too, wil rest secure,

²⁷ for you will not abandon me to Hades or al ow your holy one to see corruption.

²⁸ You have taught me the way of life, you wil fil me with joy in your presence.

²⁹ 'Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is stil with us.

³⁰ But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of hisdescendants succeed him on the throne,

³¹ he spoke with foreknowledge about the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was notabandoned to Hades, and whose body did not see corruption.

³² God raised this man Jesus to life, and of that we are al witnesses.

³³ Now raised to the heights by God's right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, whowas promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.

³⁴ For David himself never went up to heaven, but yet he said: The Lord declared to my Lord, take yourseat at my right hand,

³⁵ till I have made your enemies your footstool.

³⁶ 'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has madeis this Jesus whom you crucified.'

³⁷ Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'What are we to do,brothers?'

³⁸ 'You must repent,' Peter answered, 'and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you wil receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for al those who are far away, for althose whom the Lord our God is cal ing to himself.'

⁴⁰ He spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments, and he urged them, 'Save yourselvesfrom this perverse generation.'

⁴¹ They accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added totheir number.

⁴² These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of breadand to the prayers.

⁴³ And everyone was fil ed with awe; the apostles worked many signs and miracles.

⁴⁴ And al who shared the faith owned everything in common;

⁴⁵ they sold their goods and possessions and distributed the proceeds among themselves according towhat each one needed.

⁴⁶ Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the Temple but met in their houses for the breaking ofbread; they shared their food gladly and generously;

⁴⁷ they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their communitythose destined to be saved.