Acts 11

¹Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him.

³saying, 'You went in to men who have uncircumcision and you ate with them.'

⁴But Peter, having begun, was setting it out to them in order, saying:

⁵'I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners, and it came as far as me.

⁶Gazing into it, I was observing it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of the sky.

⁷And I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; slaughter and eat.'

⁸But I said, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my mouth.'

⁹But a voice answered me a second time from heaven, 'What God has cleansed, do not you call common.'

¹⁰Now this happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.

¹¹And behold, immediately three men stood at the house in which we were, sent from Caesarea to me.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. And also these six brothers came with me, and we entered into the house of the man.

¹³And he related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying to him, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter,'

¹⁴who will speak words to you by which you yourself and all your household will be saved.'

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as also upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he was saying: John indeed baptized with water, but you yourselves will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷If therefore God gave to them the same gift as also to us, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ — who was I, that I should be able to hinder God?

¹⁸And when they heard these things, they fell silent and glorified God, saying: So then, to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the tribulation that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews only.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²And the report concerning them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to travel as far as Antioch.

²³He, when he arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and was exhorting them all to remain true to the Lord with purpose of heart.

²⁴For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a considerable crowd was added to the Lord.

²⁵And Barnabas went out to Tarsus to search for Saul,

²⁶and having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for a whole year they met together in the church and taught a considerable crowd, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷Now in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸And one of them named Agabus stood up and indicated through the Spirit that a great famine was about to come upon the whole inhabited world — this also came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

²⁹And the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers dwelling in Judea.

³⁰And this they also did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.