Acts
11
- The apostles and the brothers throughout
Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
- So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the
circumcised believers criticized him
- and said, "You went into the house
of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
- Peter began and explained everything to
them precisely as it had happened:
- I was in the city of Joppa praying, and
in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down
from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.
- I looked into it and saw four-footed animals
of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.
- Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up,
Peter. Kill and eat.'
- "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing
impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
- "The voice spoke from heaven a second
time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'
- This happened three times, and then it was
all pulled up to heaven again.
- "Right then three men who had been
sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying.
- The Spirit told me to have no hesitation
about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered
the man's house.
- He told us how he had seen an angel appear
in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.
- He will bring you a message through which
you and all your household will be saved.'
- "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit
came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.
- Then I remembered what the Lord had said:
'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
- So if God gave them the same gift as he
gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I
could oppose God?"
- When they heard this, they had no further
objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the
Gentiles repentance unto life."
- Now those who had been scattered by the
persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus
and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
- Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and
Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the
good news about the Lord Jesus.
- The Lord's hand was with them, and a great
number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
- News of this reached the ears of the church
at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
- When he arrived and saw the evidence of
the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the
Lord with all their hearts.
- He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit
and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
- Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for
Saul,
- and when he found him, he brought him to
Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught
great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
- During this time some prophets came down
from Jerusalem to Antioch.
- One of them, named Agabus, stood up and
through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire
Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)
- The disciples, each according to his ability,
decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.
- This they did, sending their gift to the
elders by Barnabas and Saul.
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