Acts 2:14-36
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II. The Mission in Jerusalem
Peter’s Speech at Pentecost. 14 [a]Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit
upon all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
your old men shall dream dreams.(A)
18 Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids
I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will work wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below:
blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord,
21 and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.’(B)
22 You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.(C) 23 This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.(D) 24 But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it.(E) 25 For David says of him:
‘I saw the Lord ever before me,(F)
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
26 Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
27 because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.(G)
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. 30 But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,(H) 31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption.(I) 32 God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. 33 Exalted at the right hand of God,[b] he received the promise of the holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you [both] see and hear.(J) 34 For David did not go up into heaven, but he himself said:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand(K)
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
36 Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”(L)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2:14–36 The first of six discourses in Acts (along with Acts 3:12–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32; 10:34–43; 13:16–41) dealing with the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic import. Five of these are attributed to Peter, the final one to Paul. Modern scholars term these discourses in Acts the “kerygma,” the Greek word for proclamation (cf. 1 Cor 15:11).
- 2:33 At the right hand of God: or “by the right hand of God.”
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