Acts 11

The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had received the word of God. When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him, saying, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.” So Peter began to explain it to them in order, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: something like a large sheet coming down, lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came right down to me. I looked intently into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, crawling creatures, and birds of the sky. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ A voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call defiled.’ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them without making any distinction. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and call for Simon who is called Peter. He will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder God?” When they heard this, they fell silent and glorified God, saying, “Then God has granted even the Gentiles repentance that leads to life.” Now those scattered by the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, came to Antioch and also spoke to the Greek-speaking people, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. News about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose of heart, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people were added to the Lord. Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they gathered with the church and taught a large number of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. In those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated through the Spirit that there would be a great famine over the whole inhabited world. This occurred in the time of Claudius. The disciples decided, each according to his means, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Rights and attribution