Acts 2

The Holy Spirit came

1 The special day came for the Jewish ceremony called Pentecost, and all Jesus’s followers met together in one place.[a] 2 Suddenly there was a noise that came from the sky, like a strong wind blowing. Everyone in the house heard that noise. 3 Then they saw something like flames of fire that spread out and touched each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit went into all of them, and they all started to talk in different languages. The Holy Spirit gave them power to talk in those languages.

5 There were some Jewish people from a lot of different countries that were staying in Jerusalem at that time. Those people really respected God. 6 They heard the noise, and they crowded around that house. They heard Jesus’s followers talking in the languages of all their different countries, and they were really surprised. 7 They said, “These men are from Galilee, 8 so how come we can hear them talking in our own languages? 9-11 Some of us were born Jews, and some of us became Jews later. We are from a lot of different countries, and we can hear them talking in the languages of those countries. Some of us are from Parthia, and some from Media, and some from Elam, and some from Mesopotamia, and some from Judea, and some from Capadoshia, and some from Pontus, and some from Asia, and some from Frigia, and some from Pamfilia, and some from Egypt, and some from places in Libya near Cyrene, and some of us are from Crete, and some of us are from Arabia, and some of us are visiting from Rome. But all of us can hear these people talking in our own languages. They are talking about the wonderful things that God does.”

12 Those people were shocked, and they didn’t understand. They asked each other, “What does this mean?”

13 But some other people laughed and made fun of Jesus’s followers. They said, “That mob are just drunk. They drank too much wine.”

Peter talked to the people at Jerusalem

14 Then Peter got up to talk to those people, and Jesus’s 11 other special workers got up too. Peter said in a loud voice, “All you Jewish mob, and all you people that live in Jerusalem, listen to me properly now, and I’ll tell you the true story. 15 You reckon we are drunk, but no, we are not drunk. It is only 9 o’clock in the morning, too early to get drunk.

16 But I’ll tell you what’s happening. You know, a long time ago, God told his man, Joel, to write about what is happening here now, and it is in God’s book. Joel wrote,

17 ‘God said, “In the last days, before I judge everybody,

I will give my Holy Spirit to all sorts of people.

I will give my spirit to your sons, and to your daughters, and they will tell other people the things that I tell them to say.

Your young men will see the special things that I will show them,

and your old men will dream about the special things I want them to know.

18 I will even give my Holy Spirit to all my workers, men and women,

and they will tell other people the things that I tell them to say.

19-21 And I will do powerful things in the sky that will shock everyone.

The sun will turn dark, and the moon will turn red like blood.

And I will do powerful things on the earth too.

People will fight each other, and there will be fire and big smoke.”

Then God’s really great and special day will come, and he will judge everybody.

But God will save everybody that calls to him for help and asks him to save them.’

Joel wrote that in God’s book.”[b]

22-23 Peter kept on talking. He said, “All you mob, listen, and I’ll tell you about Jesus, the man from Nazareth. He was a very special man. God helped him to do great and powerful things, to show you that he is really special. You mob saw Jesus doing those things right here in front of your eyes. But you grabbed him, and you gave him to bad men that don’t know God, and they killed him on a cross. But you see, God already knew that was going to happen. God planned those things a long time ago.[c] 24 Yes, those bad men killed Jesus. They hurt him a lot, so that he died. But God didn’t let him stay dead. God made him alive again. Nobody could make Jesus stay dead.[d]

25-28 A long time ago, God told his man, David, to write about Jesus, and it is in God’s book. David wrote,

‘God, I know that you are always right here with me.

You are close by my side and you look after me, so nobody can frighten me.

So I am very happy, and I tell everyone that you are good.

I know that you will not leave my dead body in a grave.

You will not let the body of your special person rot away.

You showed me the right way to live, so that I can keep on living.

You are right here with me, and you make me very happy.’

David wrote that in God’s book.”[e]

29 Peter kept on talking. He said, “My friends, I can tell you, for sure, that our grand-father, David, was not talking about himself. You see, he died, and people buried him. His grave is still here, and we can see it today. So we know he didn’t come alive again. 30 But David was one of God’s men, and he wrote God’s messages for people. And God promised David that one day, some time later, a man from David’s own family will become the big boss over his people.[f] 31 You see, God told David something that will happen later, so David wrote that message for us. That message was about the Christ, the special man that God was going to send, and it tells us that God was going to make him alive again. It tells us that God was not going to leave him in the grave, or let his body rot away. 32 And now, all of us mob here can tell you, that message is all about Jesus. He died, but then God made him alive again, and we all saw him alive again. 33 Then God took him up into heaven. He is there now, sitting right next to God, on God’s right-hand side, the place where the most important person sits. And God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit, and today Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, just like God promised. That’s the reason why you are seeing and hearing us talk in lots of languages today.

34 You see, David didn’t go up into heaven, but Jesus did, so we know David didn’t write those words about himself, but he wrote them about Jesus. And David wrote some more words about Jesus too. He wrote,

‘God told my leader,

“Sit with me, on my right-hand side, 35 and sit there until I beat all your enemies,

and then you can put your feet on them to show that you are their boss.” ’[g]

That’s in God’s book too.”

36 Then Peter said, “So all of you Israel mob have to be sure about this. You know, you got the soldiers to nail Jesus to a cross and kill him. But God made him alive again, and God made him our boss. Yes, he is the Christ, the special man that God promised to send to save us.”

37 All the people heard the things that Peter said, and they felt a lot of shame. So they said to Peter, and to Jesus’s other special workers, “Friends, what can we do?”

38-39 Peter told them, “You have to turn around and follow Jesus. Then let us baptise you, to show that you turned away from the wrong things you are doing, and now you follow Jesus Christ. Then God will not do payback to you for those bad things. And he will give you the Holy Spirit to live in you, just like he promised. You see, God promised to give the Holy Spirit to everyone that he picks to be his own people. That promise is for you, and for your kids, and even for people in other countries a long way away.”

40 And Peter told them a lot more things to be careful about. He kept on telling them, “Let God save you, so that he will not punish you along with all the people that do bad things and don’t want Jesus.”

41 Then a lot of people believed the things that Peter said. So Jesus’s special workers baptised them. They baptised about 3,000 people that day, and those people joined Jesus’s other followers. 42 They all kept on meeting together, and they listened to everything Jesus’s special workers taught them. They were like a big family. They ate food together and remembered that Jesus died for them, and they prayed together to God.

Jesus’s followers shared everything together

43 God gave power to Jesus’s special workers, and they did powerful things. So all the people really respected God. 44 The people that believed in Jesus met together, and they shared everything they owned with each other.[h] 45 Some of them sold the things they owned, and then they gave that money to other people that needed it. 46 They all met together every day in the yard of God’s ceremony house. And they met together in each other’s houses too, to eat food and remember that Jesus died for them. They were all very happy and good to each other. 47 They praised God, and they told other people that he is really good. All the people in Jerusalem thought those people that believed in Jesus were good people. And God saved more people every day, and they joined in with the other people that believed in Jesus.

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