Acts 11:19-26

Contemporary English Version

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹^(A) Some of the Lord's followers had been scattered because of the terrible trouble that started when Stephen was killed. They went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they told the message only to the Jews.

²⁰Some of the followers from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and started telling Gentiles^[a] the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord's power was with them, and many people turned to the Lord and put their faith in him. ²²News of what was happening reached the church in Jerusalem. Then they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³When Barnabas got there and saw how God had blessed them with undeserved grace, he was very glad. So he begged them to remain faithful to the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴Barnabas was a good man of great faith, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Many more people turned to the Lord.

²⁵Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶He found Saul and brought him to Antioch, where they met with the church for a whole year and taught many of its people. There in Antioch the Lord's followers were first called Christians.

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Notas al pie

11.20 Gentiles: This translates a Greek word that may mean “people who speak Greek” or “people who live as Greeks do.” Here the word seems to mean “people who are not Jews.” Some manuscripts have “Greeks,” which also seems to mean “people who are not Jews.”