9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact xthe Spirit of God dwells in you. yAnyone who does not have zthe Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
You Must Be Born Again
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named hNicodemus, ia ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus1 jby night and said to him, k“Rabbi, lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do munless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is nborn oagain2 he cannot psee the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 rThat which is born of the flesh is sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.3 7 tDo not marvel that I said to you, ‘You4 must be born uagain.’ 8 vThe wind5 blows wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
I Will Put My Spirit Within You
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: yIt is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, wwhich you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 zAnd I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. aAnd the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 bI will take you cfrom the nations and gather you from all the countries and dbring you into your own land. 25 eI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from fall your uncleannesses, and gfrom all your idols hI will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. iAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 jAnd I will put my Spirit within you, iand cause you to walk in my statutes and kbe careful to obey my rules.1 28 lYou shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and myou shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And nI will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And oI will summon the grain and make it abundant and play no famine upon you. 30 qI will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, othat you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then ryou will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 yIt is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But pthere was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, i“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, fson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from qthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied nas he commanded me, and rthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, f“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and sour hope is lost; twe are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore iprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, uI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And vI will bring you into the land of Israel.
23 rThey shall not sdefile themselves anymore twith their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But uI will save them from all the backslidings1 in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and vthey shall be my people, and I will be their God.
The Valley of Dry Bones
1 dThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and ehe brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;1 it was full of bones.
9 But, as it is written,
l“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
10 these things oGod has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even pthe depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts qexcept the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another dHelper,1 to be with you forever, 17 even ethe Spirit of truth, fwhom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and gwill be2 in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; hI will come to you.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for hif I do not go away, ithe Helper will not come to you. But jif kI go, lI will send him to you. 8 mAnd when he comes, he will nconvict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, obecause they do not believe in me; 10 pconcerning righteousness, qbecause I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 rconcerning judgment, because the ruler of this world sis judged.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For bwe do not know what to pray for as we ought, but cthe Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And dhe who searches hearts knows what is ethe mind of the Spirit, because1 the Spirit fintercedes for the saints gaccording to the will of God.
31 So ethe church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And fwalking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, git multiplied.
The Conversion of Saul
1 But Saul, bstill cbreathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to dthe high priest
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills.
16 In all circumstances take up uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all vthe flaming darts of wthe evil one; 17 and take sthe helmet of salvation, and xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
5 and hhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
1 When fthe day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like ga mighty rushing wind, and hit filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues ias of fire appeared to them and rested1 on each one of them.
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that jGod has made him kboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus lwhom you crucified.”
37 Now when mthey heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, nwhat shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, o“Repent and pbe baptized every one of you qin the name of Jesus Christ rfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive sthe gift of the Holy Spirit.