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Acts 2:14-42
Peter Speaks to the Crowd
14Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:
Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say! 15You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. After all, it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16But this is what God told the prophet Joel to say,
17 “When the last days come,
I will give my Spirit
to everyone.
Your sons and daughters
will prophesy.
Your young men
will see visions,
and your old men
will have dreams.
18In those days I will give
my Spirit to my servants,
both men and women,
and they will prophesy.
19“I will work miracles
in the sky above
and wonders
on the earth below.
There will be blood and fire
and clouds of smoke.
20The sun will turn dark,
and the moon
will be as red as blood
before the great
and wonderful day
of the Lord appears.
21Then the Lord
will save everyone
who asks for his help.”
22Now, listen to what I have to say about Jesus from Nazareth. God proved he sent Jesus to you by having him work miracles, wonders, and signs. All of you know this. 23 God had already planned and decided that Jesus would be handed over to you. So you took him and had evil men put him to death on a cross. 24 But God set him free from death and raised him to life. Death could not hold him in its power. 25 What David said are really the words of Jesus,
“I always see the Lord
near me,
and I will not be afraid
with him at my right side.
26Because of this,
my heart will be glad,
my words will be joyful,
and I will live in hope.
27The Lord won't leave me
in the grave.
I am his holy one,
and he won't let
my body decay.
28He has shown me
the path to life,
and he makes me glad
by being near me.”
29My friends, it is right for me to speak to you about our ancestor David. He died and was buried, and his tomb is still here. 30 But David was a prophet, and he knew that God had made a promise he would not break. He had told David someone from his own family would someday be king.
31David knew this would happen, and so he told us Christ would be raised to life. He said God would not leave him in the grave or let his body decay. 32All of us can tell you that God has raised Jesus to life!
33Jesus was taken up to sit at the right side of God, and he was given the Holy Spirit, just as the Father had promised. Jesus is also the one who has given the Spirit to us, and this is what you are now seeing and hearing.
34 David didn't go up to heaven. So he wasn't talking about himself when he said, “The Lord told my Lord to sit at his right side, 35until he made my Lord's enemies into a footstool for him.” 36Everyone in Israel should then know for certain that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, even though you put him to death on a cross.
37When the people heard this, they were very upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Friends, what should we do?”
38Peter said to them, “Turn to God and be baptized, every 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. 39This promise is for you and your children. It is for everyone our Lord God will choose, no matter where they live.”
40Peter told them many other things as well. Then he said, “I beg you to save yourselves from what will happen to all these evil people.” 41On that day about 3,000 believed his message and were baptized. 42They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together.
Acts 2:14-42
Peter addresses the crowd
14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17‘ “In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
22‘Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25David said about him:
‘ “I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.”
29‘Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
‘ “The Lord said to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand
35until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.’ ”
36‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’
37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’
38Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every 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. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The fellowship of the believers
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
