A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

When the day of Pentecost came, they all met in one room. Suddenly they heard what sounded like a violent, rushing wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting.  Something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each one.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout people living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear her or his own language spoken.  They were amazed and astonished.  “Surely all of these people speaking are Galileans!  How does it happen that each of us hears their words in our native tongue?  We are Parthians, Medes and Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, as well as visitors from Rome – all Jews, or converts to Judaism – Cretans and Arabs, too; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.”

All were amazed and astonished.  They asked each other, “What does this mean?”

The Word of God recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.