Peter Reports to the Church in Jerusalem

1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 So when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision faction began disputing with him, 3 [a]saying, “Yoʋ went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them!” 4 But Peter began to explain the situation to them, step by step, saying, 5 “I was praying in the city of Joppa, and in a trance I saw a vision of an object like a large sheet coming down, being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. 6 As I stared at it, I looked closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, as well as wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the sky. 7 [b]Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Surely not, Lord! For nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 The voice from heaven responded [c]to me a second time: ‘Do not regard as defiled what God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house where [d]I was; they had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without any misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we went into the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying [e]to him, ‘Send [f]men to Joppa and have them bring back Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will speak a message to yoʋ by which yoʋ will be saved, yoʋ and yoʋr entire household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as he had fallen upon 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 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus [g]Christ, how could I stand in God's way?” 18 When the apostles and brothers heard this, they ceased their objections and began glorifying God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted the repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some Cypriot and Cyrenian men among them who went to Antioch and began speaking to the [h]Hellenists, preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number of people * believed and ¦ who believed ECM† NA SBL TH WHbelieved and turned to the Lord. 22 News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas out [j]to go to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and began exhorting all the believers to remain true to the Lord with resolute hearts. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a large number of people were added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for an entire year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

27 In those days some prophets came down to Antioch from Jerusalem. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to come upon the entire world (which [k]indeed took place in the time of Claudius [l]Caesar). 29 So the disciples, each according to his own ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who dwelt in Judea. 30 This they did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

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