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12  Happy the nation whose God is the Lord ♦︎
   and the people he has chosen for his own.
13  The Lord looks down from heaven ♦︎
   and beholds all the children of earth.
14  From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze ♦︎
   on all who dwell on the earth.
15  He fashions all the hearts of them ♦︎
   and understands all their works.
16  No king is saved by the might of his host; ♦︎
   no warrior delivered by his great strength.
17  A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; ♦︎
   for all its strength it cannot save.
18  Behold, the eye of the Lord
      is upon those who fear him, ♦︎
   on those who wait in hope for his steadfast love,
19  To deliver their soul from death ♦︎
   and to feed them in time of famine.
20  Our soul waits longingly for the Lord; ♦︎
   he is our help and our shield.
21  Indeed, our heart rejoices in him; ♦︎
   in his holy name have we put our trust.
22  Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, ♦︎
   as we have set our hope on you.

The Israelites Reach Mount Sinai

19At the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. ²They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ³Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: ⁴You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, ⁶but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’

7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.’

The People Consecrated

When Moses had told the words of the people to the Lord,

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’