Acts 2–5

Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

2And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. ²And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³And divided^a tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴And 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.

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

Peter’s Sermon on the Day of Pentecost

¹⁴But 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! ¹⁵For these men are not drunk, as you assume, because it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘And it will be in the last days,’ God says,

‘I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸And even on my male slaves and on my female slaves

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

¹⁹And I will cause wonders in the heaven^g above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be changed to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

²¹And it will be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’^h

²²“Israelite men, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—²³this man, delivered up by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by^* nailing to a cross^* through the hand of lawless men. ²⁴God raised himⁱ up, having brought to an end the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. ²⁵For David says with reference to him,

‘I saw the Lord before me continually,^j

for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

²⁶For this reason my heart was glad

and my tongue rejoiced greatly,

furthermore also my flesh will live in hope,

²⁷because you will not abandon my soul in Hades,

nor will you permit your Holy One to experience decay.

²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will fill me with gladness with your presence.’^k

²⁹“Men and brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us until this day. ³⁰Therefore, because he^* was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants^l on his throne, ³¹by^* having foreseen this,^* he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ,^m that neither was he abandoned in Hades nor did his flesh experience decay. ³²This Jesus God raised up, of whichⁿ we all are witnesses. ³³Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out this that you see and hear.^{o 34}For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

³⁵until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’^p

³⁶Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified!”

The Response to Peter’s Sermon

³⁷Now when they^* heard this,^* they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “What should we do, men and brothers?” ³⁸And Peter said^q to them, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all those who are far away, as many as the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰And with many other words he solemnly urged and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation!” ⁴¹So those who accepted his message were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added.

The Fellowship of the First Believers

⁴²And they were devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers. ⁴³And fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were being performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were in the same place, and had everything in common. ⁴⁵And they began selling^* their^* possessions and property, and distributing these things to all, to the degree that anyone had need. ⁴⁶And every day, devoting themselves to meeting^* with one purpose in the temple courts^* and breaking bread from house to house, they were eating their food with joy and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding every day to the total of those who were being saved.

A Lame Beggar Healed at the Temple

3Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ²And a certain man was being carried who was lame from birth.^a He^b was placed every day at the gate of the temple called “Beautiful,” so that he could ask for charitable gifts from those who were going into the temple courts.^{* 3}When he^* saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts,^* he began asking to receive alms. ⁴And Peter looked intently at him, together with John, and^* said, “Look at us!” ⁵So he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not possess,^c but what I have, this I give to you—in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”^{d 7}And taking hold of him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸And leaping up, he stood and began walking around^* and entered into the temple courts^* with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰And they recognized him, that this one^e was the one who used to sit asking for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Sermon in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹And while^* he was holding fast to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s, utterly astonished. ¹²And when he^* saw it,^* Peter replied to the people, “Men and Israelites, why are you astonished at this? Or why are you staring at us, as if by our own power or godliness we have made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham and of Isaac^f and of Jacob,^g the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, after^h he had decided to release him.^{* 14}But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and demanded that a man—a murderer—be granted to you. ¹⁵And you killed the originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses! ¹⁶And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. ¹⁷And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. ¹⁸But the things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christⁱ would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way. ¹⁹Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, ²⁰so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ^j appointed for you—Jesus, ²¹whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times. ²²Moses said, ‘The Lord God^k will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.^{l 23}And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’^{m 24}And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed him^* have spoken about and proclaimed these days. ²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’^{n 26}God, after he^* had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you back from your wickedness!”

Peter and John Arrested

4And while^* they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees approached them, ²greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³And they laid hands on them and put them^* in custody until the next day, because it was already evening. ⁴But many of those who listened to the message believed, and the number of the men was approximately five thousand.

Peter and John on Trial Before the Sanhedrin

⁵And it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes came together in Jerusalem, ⁶and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and…