John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, answered them, "Leaders of the people and elders:

When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God's message with boldness.

So then, friends, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of this matter.

The whole group was pleased with the apostles' proposal, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a Gentile from Antioch who had earlier been converted to Judaism.

Stephen, a man richly blessed by God and full of power, performed great miracles and wonders among the people.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God.

So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. "Brother Saul," he said, "the Lord has sent me---Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

Then Saul---also known as Paul---was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician

The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit.

John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God's message:

Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.

Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, may you come to know his love---although it can never be fully known---and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit.

both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia---yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!"

For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God's greatness. Peter spoke up:

Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message.

If you won't listen to me, then God will use foreigners speaking some strange-sounding language to teach you a lesson.

Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues;

The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said.

In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.

or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.

I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.

Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.

I would like for all of you to speak in strange tongues; but I would rather that you had the gift of proclaiming God's message. For the person who proclaims God's message is of greater value than the one who speaks in strange tongues---unless there is someone present who can explain what is said, so that the whole church may be helped.

I thank God that I speak in strange tongues much more than any of you.

In the Scriptures it is written, "By means of people speaking strange languages I will speak to my people, says the Lord. I will speak through lips of foreigners, but even then my people will not listen to me."

If, then, the whole church meets together and everyone starts speaking in strange tongues---and if some ordinary people or unbelievers come in, won't they say that you are all crazy?

The LORD said to him, "Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the LORD.

Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what to say."

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long.

A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing.

Moses answered, "Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the LORD would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!"

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting.

The spirit of the LORD speaks through me; his message is on my lips.

And I make a covenant with you: I have given you my power and my teachings to be yours forever, and from now on you are to obey me and teach your children and your descendants to obey me for all time to come."

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say.

Then the LORD reached out, touched my lips, and said to me, "Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak.

Your anger against them burns in me too, LORD, and I can't hold it in any longer." Then the LORD said to me, "Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared.

Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not."

But as for me, the LORD fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."

because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say.

This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church.

But if no one is there who can explain, then the one who speaks in strange tongues must be quiet and speak only to himself and to God.

But if someone sitting in the meeting receives a message from God, the one who is speaking should stop.

The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control,

Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.

For no prophetic message ever came just from the human will, but people were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God.