Acts 1 - 2
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1The first account, O aTheophilus, I 1composed, about all that Jesus bbegan to do and teach, 2until the day when He awas taken up to heaven, after He bhad 1by the Holy Spirit given orders to cthe apostles whom He had dchosen, 3to whom aHe also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about bthe things concerning the kingdom of God. 4And 1gathering them together, He commanded them anot to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the bpromise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5for 1,aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized 2with the Holy Spirit 3,bnot many days from now.”
6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, ais it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which athe Father has set by His own authority; 8but you will receive power awhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be bMy witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and cSamaria, and even to 1,dthe end of the earth.”
The Ascension
9And after He had said these things, aHe was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And as they were gazing intently into 1the sky while He was going, behold, atwo men in white clothing stood beside them. 11They also said, “aMen of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who bhas been taken up from you into heaven, will ccome in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12Then they areturned to Jerusalem from the 1,bmount called 2Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a 3Sabbath day’s journey away. 13And when they had entered the city, they went up to athe upper room where they were staying; bthat is, Peter and John and 1James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and cJudas the 2son of James. 14These all with one accord awere continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with bthe women, and Mary the cmother of Jesus, and His dbrothers.
15And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of athe brothers (a crowd of about 120 1persons was there together), and said, 16“Men, brothers, athe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, bwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17“For he was acounted among us and received his share in bthis ministry.” 18(Now this man aacquired a field with bthe price of his unrighteousness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in atheir own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘aLet his residence be made desolate,And let no one dwell in it’; and,‘bLet another man take his 1office.’
21“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that athe Lord Jesus went in and out 1among us— 22abeginning 1with the baptism of John until the day that He bwas taken up from us—one of these must become a cwitness with us of His resurrection.” 23And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and aMatthias. 24And they aprayed and said, “You, Lord, bwho know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25to take the place of athis ministry and bapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they 1,acast lots for them, and the lot fell 2to bMatthias; and he was 3added to cthe eleven apostles.
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2And when athe day of Pentecost 1had fully come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing awind, and it filled bthe whole house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared to them tongues like fire 1,adistributing themselves, and 2they 3rested on each one of them. 4And they were all afilled with the Holy Spirit and began to bspeak with other 1tongues, as the Spirit was giving them 2utterance.
5Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, adevout men from every nation under heaven. 6And when athis sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own 1language. 7aSo they were astounded and marveling, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking bGalileans? 8“And how is it that we each hear them in our own 1language in which we were born? 9“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and aCappadocia, bPontus and 1,cAsia, 10aPhrygia and bPamphylia, Egypt and the district of Libya around cCyrene, and 1,dvisitors from Rome, both Jews and 2,eproselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12And athey all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others, mocking, were saying, “aThey are full of new wine.”
Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost
14But Peter, 1taking his stand with athe eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, afor it is the 1third hour of the day; 16but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17‘aAnd it shall be in the last days,’ God says,‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all 1mankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see visions,And your old men shall dream dreams;18Even on My male slaves and female slaves,I will in those days pour out My SpiritAnd they shall prophesy.19‘And I will put wonders in the sky aboveAnd signs on the earth below,Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.20‘The sun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into blood,Before the great and awesome day of the 1Lord comes.21‘And it will be that aeveryone who calls on the name of the 1Lord will be saved.’22“Men of Israel, listen to these words: aJesus the Nazarene, ba man 1attested to you by God with 2miracles and cwonders and 3signs which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23this Man, delivered over by the apredetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, byou nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. 24“1But aGod raised Him up again, putting an end to the 2agony of death, since it bwas impossible for Him to be held 3in its power. 25“For David says of Him, ‘aI saw the 1Lord continually before me;Because He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
26‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;27Because You will not forsake my soul to aHades,bNor give Your 1Holy One over to see corruption.28‘You have made known to me the ways of life;You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’29“Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the apatriarch David that he both bdied and cwas buried, and dhis tomb is 1with us to this day. 30“And so, because he was aa prophet and knew that bGod had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit 1of his body on his throne, 31he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the 1Christ, that aHe was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32“This Jesus aGod raised up again, to which we are all bwitnesses. 33“Therefore having been exalted 1,ato the right hand of God, and bhaving received from the Father cthe promise of the Holy Spirit, He has dpoured out this which you both see and hear. 34“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: ‘aThe 1Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,
35Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’36“Therefore let all the ahouse of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both bLord and 1Christ—this Jesus cwhom you crucified.”
About Three Thousand Souls Saved
37Now when they heard this, they were 1pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men, brothers, awhat should we do?” 38And Peter said to them, “aRepent, and each of you be bbaptized in the name of Jesus Christ 1for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“For athe promise is for you and your children and for all who are bfar off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40And with many other words he solemnly abore witness and kept on exhorting them, saying, “1Be saved from this bcrooked generation!” 41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand asouls. 42And they were acontinually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to bthe breaking of bread and cto the prayers.
43And fear came upon every soul; and many awonders and 1signs were taking place through the apostles. 44And all those who had believed 1were together and ahad all things in common; 45and they abegan selling their property and possessions and were bdividing them up with all, as anyone might have need. 46aAnd daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and bbreaking bread 1from house to house, they were taking their 2meals together with gladness and 3sincerity of heart, 47praising God and ahaving favor with all the people. And the Lord bwas adding 1to their number daily cthose who were being saved.
Psalm 79
How Long, O Yahweh?
79A Psalm of Asaph.
O God, the anations have come into bYour inheritance;They have defiled Your choly temple;They have dlaid Jerusalem in ruins.2They have given the adead bodies of Your slaves for food to the birds of the heavens,The flesh of Your holy ones to the beasts of the earth.3They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;And there was ano one to bury them.4We have become a areproach to our neighbors,A mockery and derision to those around us.5aHow long, O Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?Will Your bjealousy cburn like fire?6aPour out Your wrath upon the nations which bdo not know You,And upon the kingdoms which cdo not call upon Your name.7For they have adevoured JacobAnd blaid waste his 1abode.8aDo not remember our former iniquities against us;Let Your compassion quickly bapproach us,For we are cbrought very low.9aHelp us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of bYour name;And deliver us and catone for our sins dfor Your name’s sake.10aWhy should the nations say, “Where is their God?”Let it be known among the nations before our eyes:bVengeance for the blood of Your slaves which has been poured out.11Let athe groaning of the prisoner come before You;According to the greatness of Your 1power preserve 2those who are bdoomed to die.12And return to our neighbors asevenfold binto their bosom1The creproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.13But as for us, as Your people and the asheep of Your pasture,We will bgive thanks to You forever;From generation to generation we will crecount Your praise.