Acts 11

¹ The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him ³ and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me. ⁶ I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’ ⁸ ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹ Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹² The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴ He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” ¹⁹ Meanwhile those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews. ²⁰ But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. ²² When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴ Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. ²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. ²⁷ In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.) ²⁹ So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. ³⁰ This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.