Acts 2:1-13
It
was the fifteenth year in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. Pontius Pilate was
governor of Judea. Herod ruled Galilee, and his brother Philip ruled Iturea and
Trachonitis. Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene. It was at the time when Annas
and Caiaphas were chief priests that God spoke to John, son of Zechariah, in
the desert. John traveled throughout the region around the Jordan River. He
told people about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
As the prophet Isaiah wrote in
his book,
"A voice cries out in the desert:
'Prepare the way for the Lord!
Make his paths straight!
Every valley will be filled.
Every mountain and hill will be leveled.
The crooked ways will be made straight.
The rough roads will be made smooth.
All people will see the salvation that God
gives.' "
Crowds
of people were coming to be baptized by John. He would say to them, "You
poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God's coming anger? Do those
things that prove that you have turned to God and have changed the way you
think and act. Don't say, 'Abraham is our ancestor.' I guarantee that God can raise
up descendants for Abraham from these stones. The ax is now ready to cut the
roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into a fire."
The
crowds asked him, "What should we do?"
He
answered them, "Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who
doesn't have any. Whoever has food should share it too."
Some
tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, "Teacher, what should
we do?"
He
told them, "Don't collect more money than you are ordered to collect."
Some
soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"
He
told them, "Be satisfied with your pay, and never use threats or blackmail
to get money from anyone."
People's
hopes were rising as they all wondered whether John was the Messiah. John replied
to all of them, "I baptize you with water. But the one who is more
powerful than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie his sandal straps. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand
to clean up his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he
will burn the husks in a fire that can never be put out."
When
Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover, came, all the believers were
together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came
from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying. Tongues that
looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one
came to rest on each believer. All the believers were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the
ability to speak.
Devout
Jewish men from every nation were living in Jerusalem. They gathered when they
heard the wind. Each person was startled to recognize his own dialect when the
disciples spoke.
Stunned
and amazed, the people in the crowd said, "All of these men who are
speaking are Galileans. Why do we hear them speaking in our native dialects?
We're Parthians, Medes, and Elamites. We're people from Mesopotamia,
Judea,Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and
the country near Cyrene in Libya. We're Jewish people, converts to Judaism, and
visitors from Rome, Crete, and Arabia. We hear these men in our own languages
as they tell about the miracles that God has done."
All
of these devout men were stunned and puzzled. They asked each other, "What
can this mean?" Others said jokingly, "They're drunk on sweet
wine." (GWT)
This reading is taken from 30
Scripture Readings for New Christians. The complete book can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KYN34Q
God’s Word® Translation. Copyright © 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations. Published by Baker Book
House. Used by permission.
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