Acts 11

Legacy Standard Bible

Peter’s Report in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^[a](B)those who were circumcised took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(C)You ^[b]went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began speaking ^[c]and proceeded to explain to them ^(D)in orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(F)a vision, ^[d]an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶ and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ^[e]sky. ⁷ And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ^[f]slaughter and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(G)What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰ And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^(H)Caesarea. ^12 (I)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^[g](J)without taking issue at all. ^(K)These six brothers also went with me and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^[h]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(L)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(M)all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, ^(N)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(O)as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(P)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[i]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore if ^(Q)God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(R)who was I that I could prevent God’s way?” ¹⁸ And when they heard this, they ^[j]quieted down and ^(S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^(T)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (U)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[k]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[l]to ^(V)Phoenicia and ^(W)Cyprus and ^(X)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(Y)Cyprus and ^(Z)Cyrene, who came to ^(AA)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[m](AB)Greeks also, ^(AC)proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(AD)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(AE)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² Now the ^[n]news about them ^[o]reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^(AF)Barnabas off ^[p]to ^(AG)Antioch, ²³ who, when he arrived and saw ^(AH)the grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(AI)full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a ^(AJ)considerable crowd was ^[q]brought to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(AK)Tarsus to search for Saul; ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to ^(AL)Antioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ^[r]met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^(AM)the disciples were first called ^(AN)Christians in ^(AO)Antioch.

²⁷ Now in those days, ^(AP)some prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AQ)Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named ^(AR)Agabus stood up and indicated ^[s]by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^(AS)all over the ^[t]world. ^[u]And this took place in the reign of ^(AT)Claudius. ²⁹ And as any of ^(AU)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^(AV)the brothers living in Judea. ^30 (AW)And this they did, sending it ^[v]in charge of ^(AX)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AY)elders.