Acts 2:4-37

⁴The Holy Spirit went into all of them and they all began to talk in different languages. The Holy Spirit gave them power to talk these languages.

⁵There were some Jews that were staying in Jerusalem at that time. They really respected God. They came from a lot of different countries.

⁶They 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.

⁷They said, “These men are from Galilee,

⁸so how come we can hear them talking in our own languages?

⁹Some 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 the languages of these 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 Cappadocia, and some from Pontus, and some from Asia, and some from Phrygia, and some from Pamphylia, 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.”

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

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

¹⁴Then Peter got up to talk to those people. The 11 other close followers of Jesus got up too. Peter said, in a loud voice, “All you mob that are Jews that live in Jerusalem, listen to me properly now and I’ll tell you the true story.

¹⁵You reckon we are drunk, but no, we are not drunk. It is only 9 o’clock in the morning, too early for anyone to get drunk.

¹⁶But a long time ago God told his man called Joel to write about what is happening here now, and it is in God’s book. He wrote,

¹⁷‘God said, “In the last days, before I judge everybody, I will give my Holy Spirit to everyone. I will give my spirit to your sons and 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.

¹⁸I 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.”

¹⁹But first God 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 God will do powerful things on the earth too. People will fight each other, and there will be fire and big smoke. But, at that time, God will save everybody that calls to him and asks him to save them. Then God’s really great and special day will come, and he will judge everybody.’ Joel wrote that in God’s book.”

²²Peter kept on talking. He said, “All you mob, listen to me. The man from Nazareth, called Jesus, 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, a long time ago God already knew everything you were going to do, and he planned to let you do it a long time before you did it.

²⁴Yes, those bad men killed Jesus. He hurt a lot, and then he died. But God didn’t let him stay dead. God made him alive again. Nobody could make Jesus stay dead.

²⁵A long time ago God’s man called David wrote about Jesus in God’s book. He wrote, ‘I saw you, God. You are always right here in front of 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 you are good. I know 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.”

²⁹Peter kept on talking. He said, “My friends, I can tell you, for sure, about our grand-father David of long ago. He 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.

³⁰But 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 of his people.

³¹You see, God told David something that will happen later, so David wrote that message for us. That message was about the man God was going to send, and it tells us that God was going to make him alive again. It tells us God was not going to leave him in the grave or let his body rot away.

³²And 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.

³³Then God took him up into heaven. Now he is sitting right next to God, on God’s right side, and God gave him his power.

³⁴You 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 side, until I beat all your enemies, and then you can put your feet on them to show that you are their boss.” ’ That’s in God’s book.”

³⁶Then Peter said, “So, all of us Israel mob have to know this for sure. Yes, 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 one God promised to send to save us.”

³⁷All the people heard the things Peter said and they felt really ashamed. So they said to Peter, and to the other close followers of Jesus, “Friends, what can we do?”