Act 11 | BSB | STEP | The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

Acts 11

Peter's Report at Jerusalem

1 The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon 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 [and] said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began [and] explained to them the whole sequence of events: 5 “I was in [the] city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision [of] something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by [its] four corners, and it came right down to me. 6 I looked at it {closely} [and] saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’ 8 ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has {ever} entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice spoke from heaven a second [time] , ‘vvv Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. 11 Just then, three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house [where] I was [staying] . 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. 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 convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 [As] I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as [He had come] upon us at [the] beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, ^{▼▼Or in water} but you will be baptized with [the] Holy Spirit.’ ^{▼▼Acts 1:5} 17 So if God gave them the same gift as [He gave] us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder [the work of] God?” 18 [When] they heard [this] , [ their objections ] were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

The Church at Antioch

19 Meanwhile, those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews. 20 But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 [The] hand of [the] Lord was with them, and [a] great number [of people] believed [and] turned to the Lord. 22 [When] news of this [reached] the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 [When] he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts. 24 [Barnabas] 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] back to Antioch. [So] [for] a full year they met together with the church and taught large [numbers of people] . The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. 27 In those days [some] prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up [and] predicted through the Spirit [that] a great famine would sweep across the entire [ Roman ] world. ( [This] happened under Claudius.) 29 [So] the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending [their gifts] to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.