Acts 11Book 44 of 66 · 30 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending

  1. Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
  2. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,
  3. saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
  4. But Peter began to explain to them step by step, saying:
  5. “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.
  6. When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
  7. And I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
  8. But I said, ‘By no means, Lord! For nothing impure or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
  9. But the voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call impure.’
  10. Now this happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.
  11. At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were.
  12. Then the Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house.
  13. And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter.
  14. He will speak a message to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’
  15. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as 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. If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?
  18. When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
  19. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one except Jews.
  20. But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.
  21. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.
  22. Then news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
  23. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.
  24. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a large number of people were added to the Lord.
  25. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.
  26. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch; and for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
  27. In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
  28. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a great famine throughout the Roman world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
  29. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
  30. This they also did, sending it to the elders by means of Barnabas and Saul.