| | 1 | The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. | |
| | 2 | So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him | |
| | 3 | and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." | |
| | 4 | Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: | |
| | 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 down to where I was. | |
| | 6 | I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. | |
| | 7 | Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' | |
| | 8 | "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' | |
| | 9 | "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' | |
| | 10 | This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. | |
| | 11 | "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. | |
| | 12 | 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. | |
| | 13 | He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, '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 as he had come on us at the beginning. | |
| | 16 | Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' | |
| | 17 | 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?" | |
| | 18 | When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." | |
| | 19 | 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. | |
| | 20 | 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. | |
| | 21 | The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. | |
| | 22 | News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. | |
| | 23 | 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. | |
| | 24 | He 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 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. | |
| | 27 | During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. | |
| | 28 | 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.) | |
| | 29 | The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. | |
| | 30 | This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. | |
