Acts 11

¹ The apostles and the believers throughout Judea 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 saying, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

⁴ Then Peter began and explained it to them step by step:

⁵ "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 right down to me.

⁶ I looked into it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.

⁷ Then I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'

⁸ I said, 'Certainly not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'

⁹ But the voice from heaven spoke a second time: 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'

¹⁰ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled back up into heaven.

¹¹ Right then, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where we were staying.

¹² The Spirit told me to go with them and not to hesitate. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.

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 bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.'

¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he had come on us at the beginning.

¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, '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 think I could stand in God's way?"

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objection and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance that leads to life."

¹⁹ Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.

²⁰ But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

²¹ The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²² News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³ When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

²⁴ He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a large 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 to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

²⁷ During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

²⁹ The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send help to the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.