Acts 2–5

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2^*When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. ²Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. ⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. ⁶When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because each one of them heard the believers speaking in his or her own language. ⁷In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, “These people who are talking like this are Galileans! ⁸How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? ⁹We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, ¹¹both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia—yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!” ¹²Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³But others made fun of the believers, saying, “These people are drunk!”

Peter’s Message

¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd: “Fellow-Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means. ¹⁵These people are not drunk, as you suppose; it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about:

^17*‘This is what I will do in the last days, God says:

I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.

Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message;

your young men will see visions,

and your old men will have dreams.

^18*Yes, even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will proclaim my message.

^19*I will perform miracles in the sky above

and wonders on the earth below.

There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke;

^20*the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will turn red as blood,

before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes.

^21*And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’

²²“Listen to these words, fellow-Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you. ^23*In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him. ^24*But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner. ^25*For David said about him:

‘I saw the Lord before me at all times;

he is near me, and I will not be troubled.

^26*And so I am filled with gladness,

and my words are full of joy.

And I, mortal though I am,

will rest assured in hope,

^27*because you will not abandon me in the world of the dead;

you will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.

^28*You have shown me the paths that lead to life,

and your presence will fill me with joy.’

²⁹“My fellow-Israelites, I must speak to you plainly about our famous ancestor King David. He died and was buried, and his grave is here with us to this very day. ^30*He was a prophet, and he knew what God had promised him: God had made a vow that he would make one of David’s descendants a king, just as David was. ³¹David saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah when he said:

‘He was not abandoned in the world of the dead;

his body did not rot in the grave.’

³²God has raised this very Jesus from death, and we are all witnesses to this fact. ³³He has been raised to the right-hand side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us. ^34*For it was not David who went up into heaven; rather he said:

‘The Lord said to my Lord:

Sit here at my right

^35*until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.’

³⁶“All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!”

³⁷When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

³⁸Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For God’s promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away—all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

⁴⁰Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them, saying, “Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!” ⁴¹Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about 3,000 people were added to the group that day. ⁴²They spent their time in learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and the prayers.

Life among the Believers

⁴³Many miracles and wonders were being done through the apostles, and everyone was filled with awe. ^44*All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. ⁴⁵They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. ⁴⁶Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts, ⁴⁷praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

A Lame Man is Healed

3One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer. ²There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple. ³When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something. ⁴They looked straight at him, and Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them. ⁶But Peter said to him, “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!” ⁷Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong; ⁸he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. ⁹The people there saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Message in the Temple

¹¹As the man held on to Peter and John in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called, the people were amazed and ran to them. ¹²When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow-Israelites, why are you surprised at this, and why do you stare at us? Do you think that it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk? ^13*The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has given divine glory to his Servant Jesus. But you handed him over to the authorities, and you rejected him in Pilate’s presence, even after Pilate had decided to set him free. ^14*He was holy and good, but you rejected him, and instead you asked Pilate to do you the favour of turning loose a murderer. ¹⁵You killed the one who leads to life, but God raised him from death—and we are witnesses to this. ¹⁶It was the power of his name that gave strength to this lame man. What you see and know was done by faith in his name; it was faith in Jesus that has made him well, as you can all see.

¹⁷“And now, my fellow-Israelites, I know that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was due to your ignorance. ¹⁸God announced long ago through all the prophets that his Messiah had to suffer; and he made it come true in this way. ¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins. If you do, ²⁰times of spiritual strength will come from the Lord, and he will send Jesus, who is the Messiah he has already chosen for you. ²¹He must remain in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new, as God announced through his holy prophets who lived long ago. ^22*For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me,^c and he will be one of your own people. You are to obey everything that he tells you to do. ^23*Anyone who does not obey that prophet shall be separated from God’s people and destroyed.’ ²⁴And all the prophets who had a message, including Samuel and those who came after him, also announced what has been happening these days. ^25*The promises of God through his prophets are for you, and you share in the covenant which God made with your ancestors. As he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants I will bless all the people on earth.’ ²⁶And so God chose his Servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by making every one of you turn away from your wicked ways.”

Peter and John before the Council

4Peter and John were still speaking to the people when some priests,^d the officer in charge of the temple guards, and some Sadducees arrived. ²They were annoyed because the two apostles were teaching the people that Jesus had risen from death, which proved that the dead will rise to life. ³So they arrested them and put them in jail until the next day, since it was already late. ⁴But many who heard the message believed; and the number of men grew to about 5,000.

⁵The next day…