17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God:
I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy;
your young men will see visions;
your old men will dream a dream."Visions" is plural, but "dream" is singular, in the Text (albeit 15% of the Greek manuscripts do have ‘dreams’). When I was young I had all sorts of ‘visions’ of what I thought I was going to achieve in my lifetime. Now that I am old I am pretty well reduced to one ‘dream’. One’s focus must accompany his energy level. (My personal experience is probably not the intended meaning of the Text, but I am not sure what it might be—do all old men have the same dream?)
18 In those days I will indeed pour out from my Spirit upon my male slaves and upon my female slaves,
and they will prophesy.As is typical in Hebrew, verse 18 repeats part of verse 17. Similarly, verse 20 complements verse19. I take it that verses 19 and 20 will be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation, literally, so it was verses 17 and 18 that were immediately applicable to what was happening there. So why did Peter quote the material in 19 and 20? Perhaps he (and the others) thought that ‘the day of the Lord’ had already started—so much so that no one went home; the believers stayed on in Jerusalem until the persecution sent them running (Acts 8:1).
38 So Peter said to them: "Repent and be baptized, each one of you, upon the name of Jesus Christ,This is the first use of the title, Jesus Christ, after the Gospels; the Lord had Himself inaugurated the title fifty days before (John 17:3)—it affirms that Jesus is the Messiah. Anyone being baptized upon that name would be publicly declaring allegiance to Jesus as the Messiah. Notice that Peter promises forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit to any who enter into that commitment. for forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far awayI assume that "all who are far away" is a reference to Gentiles, and the promise applies only to the ‘called’.—as many, that is, as the Lord our God may call."