Acts 11

1 Now the Apostles and the brothers who were in Judaea had news that the word of God had been given to the Gentiles.

Now the Apostles, and the brethren in various parts of Judaea, heard that the Gentiles also had received God's Message;

2 And when Peter came to Jerusalem, those who kept the rule of circumcision had an argument with him,

and, when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the champions of circumcision found fault with him.

3 Saying, You went to men without circumcision, and took food with them.

"You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them."

4 But Peter gave them an account of it all in order, saying to them,

Peter, however, explained the whole matter to them from the beginning.

5 I was in the town of Joppa, at prayer: and falling into a deep sleep, I saw in a vision a vessel like a great cloth let down from heaven, and it came down to me:

"While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

6 And looking on it with attention I saw in it all sorts of beasts and birds.

Fixing my eyes on it, I examined it closely, and saw various kinds of quadrupeds, wild beasts, reptiles and birds.

7 And a voice came to my ears saying, Come, Peter; take them for food.

I also heard a voice saying to me, "'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.'

8 But I said, No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever come into my mouth.

"'On no account, Lord,' I replied, 'for nothing unholy or impure has ever gone into my mouth.'

9 But the voice, coming a second time from heaven, said, What God has made clean, do not you make common.

"But a voice answered, speaking a second time from the sky, "'What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy.'

10 And this was done three times, and they were all taken up again into heaven.

"This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight.

11 And at that minute, three men, sent from Caesarea, came to the house where we were.

"Now at that very moment three men came to the house where we were, having been sent from Caesarea to find me.

12 And the Spirit gave me orders to go with them, doubting nothing. And these six brothers came with me; and we went into that man's house:

And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house.

13 And he gave us an account of how he had seen the angel in his house, saying, Send to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you;

Then he described to us how he had seen the angel come and enter his house and say, "'Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon, surnamed Peter.

14 Who will say words to you through which you and all your family may get salvation.

He will teach you truths by which you and all your family will be saved.'"

15 And, while I was talking to them, the Holy Spirit came on them, as on us at first.

"And," said Peter, "no sooner had I begun to speak than the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He fell upon us at the first.

16 And the words of the Lord came into my mind, how he said, The baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Then I remembered the Lord's words, how He used to say, "'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.'

17 If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as he gave to us, who was I to go against God?

"If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, why, who was I to be able to thwart God?"

18 And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.

This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

19 Then those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only.

Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews.

20 But some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, when they came to Antioch, gave the good news about the Lord Jesus to the Greeks.

But some of them were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also and told them the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus.

21 And the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were turned to the Lord.

The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

22 And news of them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem: and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch:

When tidings of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.

23 Who, when he came and saw the grace of God, was glad; and he made clear to them the need of keeping near the Lord with all the strength of their hearts:

On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

24 For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and a great number were joined to the Lord.

For he was a good man, and was full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and the number of believers in the Lord greatly increased.

25 Then he went on to Tarsus, looking for Saul;

Then Barnabas paid a visit to Tarsus to try to find Saul.

26 And when he had come across him, he took him to Antioch. And they were with the church there for a year, teaching the people; and the disciples were first given the name of Christians in Antioch.

He succeeded, and brought him to Antioch; and for a whole year they attended the meetings of the Church, and taught a large number of people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of 'Christians.'

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

At that time certain Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,

28 And one of them, named Agabus, said publicly through the Spirit that there would be serious need of food all over the earth: which came about in the time of Claudius.

one of whom, named Agabus, being instructed by the Spirit, publicly predicted the speedy coming of a great famine throughout the world. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

29 And the disciples, everyone as he was able, made a decision to send help to the brothers living in Judaea:

So the disciples decided to send relief, every one in proportion to his means, to the brethren living in Judaea.

30 Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

This they did, forwarding their contributions to the Elders by Barnabas and Saul.