BIBLE PASSAGE — When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like
the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were
sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested
on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in
Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because
each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and
astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how
is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed
and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others
sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
“Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and
listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is
only nine o”clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the
prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out
my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and
your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even
upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and
signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be
turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s
great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.’
— The Day of Pentecost, Series C
