使徒行傳 11
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
彼得的解釋
11 使徒和猶太全境的弟兄姊妹都聽說外族人接受了上帝的道。 2 彼得一回到耶路撒冷，嚴守割禮的門徒就指責他： 3 「你竟然去未受割禮之人的家，還和他們一同吃飯！」
4 彼得就把事情的經過一一向他們解釋，說： 5 「我在約帕城禱告的時候，看見一個異象，有一大塊像布的東西四個角吊著從天上降到我面前。 6 我定睛一看，裡面有牲畜、野獸、爬蟲和飛禽。 7 接著，我聽見有聲音對我說，『彼得，起來，宰了吃！』 8 我說，『主啊，這可不行！我從未吃過任何污穢不潔之物！』 9 那從天上來的聲音又說，『上帝已經潔淨的，你不可再稱之為不潔淨。』 10 這樣一連三次，然後一切都被收回天上去了。 11 就在那時候，有三個從凱撒利亞來的人到我住處的門口來找我。 12 聖靈吩咐我跟他們同去，不要猶豫。就這樣，我和這六位弟兄一同到了哥尼流家。 13 他告訴我們天使如何在他家中向他顯現，並對他說，『你派人去約帕，請一位名叫西門·彼得的人來。 14 他有話告訴你，能使你和你的全家得救。』
15 「我開口講話時，聖靈降在他們身上，跟當初降在我們身上的情形一模一樣。 16 我就想起主的話，『約翰用水施洗，但你們要受聖靈的洗禮。』 17 既然上帝給他們恩賜，就如我們信主耶穌基督時給我們一樣，我是誰，怎能攔阻上帝？」 18 大家聽了便安靜下來，轉而歸榮耀給上帝，說：「如此看來，上帝把悔改得永生的機會也賜給了外族人。」
安提阿的教會
19 司提凡殉道後，信徒們因受迫害而四散到各處，遠至腓尼基、塞浦路斯和安提阿，他們只向那裡的猶太人傳福音。 20 不過，有些塞浦路斯和古利奈的信徒到了安提阿之後，也向希臘人傳講主耶穌的福音。 21 上帝的能力伴隨著他們，有許多人信了主。
22 耶路撒冷教會的人聽到這消息後，就派巴拿巴去安提阿。 23 他到達後，看見上帝所賜的恩典，就萬分高興，勸勉他們要全心地忠於主。
24 巴拿巴是個被聖靈充滿、信心堅定的好人。那時信主的人大大增加。 25 他又到大數去找掃羅， 26 找到後，便帶他回安提阿。他們在教會待了一年之久，教導了許多人。門徒被稱為「基督徒」就是從安提阿開始的。
27 當時，有幾位先知從耶路撒冷下到安提阿。 28 其中一位名叫亞迦布，他得到聖靈的啟示，站起來預言天下將有嚴重的饑荒。後來，這事果然在克勞狄執政期間發生了。 29 門徒決定各盡所能，捐款救濟住在猶太境內的弟兄姊妹。 30 他們捐完後，委託巴拿巴和掃羅將款項送交耶路撒冷教會的長老。
Acts 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
The Baptism of the Gentiles Explained.[a] 1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, 3 saying, “You entered[b] the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” 4 Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, 5 (A)“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. 6 Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time a voice from heaven answered, ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. 11 Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers[c] also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He related to us how he had seen [the] angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,(B) 14 who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning,(C) 16 and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.’(D) 17 If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”(E) 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
The Church at Antioch.[d] 19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews.(F) 20 There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however, who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas [to go] to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, 24 for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people was added to the Lord. 25 Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole 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.[e]
The Prediction of Agabus.[f] 27 At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, 28 and one of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world, and it happened under Claudius.(G) 29 So the disciples determined that, according to ability,(H) each should send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea. 30 [g]This they did, sending it to the presbyters in care of Barnabas and Saul.
Footnotes
- 11:1–18 The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were scandalized to learn of Peter’s sojourn in the house of the Gentile Cornelius. Nonetheless, they had to accept the divine directions given to both Peter and Cornelius. They concluded that the setting aside of the legal barriers between Jew and Gentile was an exceptional ordinance of God to indicate that the apostolic kerygma was also to be directed to the Gentiles. Only in Acts 15 at the “Council” in Jerusalem does the evangelization of the Gentiles become the official position of the church leadership in Jerusalem.
- 11:3 You entered…: alternatively, this could be punctuated as a question.
- 11:12 These six brothers: companions from the Christian community of Joppa (see Acts 10:23).
- 11:19–26 The Jewish Christian antipathy to the mixed community was reflected by the early missionaries generally. The few among them who entertained a different view succeeded in introducing Gentiles into the community at Antioch (in Syria). When the disconcerted Jerusalem community sent Barnabas to investigate, he was so favorably impressed by what he observed that he persuaded his friend Saul to participate in the Antioch mission.
- 11:26 Christians: “Christians” is first applied to the members of the community at Antioch because the Gentile members of the community enable it to stand out clearly from Judaism.
- 11:27–30 It is not clear whether the prophets from Jerusalem came to Antioch to request help in view of the coming famine or whether they received this insight during their visit there. The former supposition seems more likely. Suetonius and Tacitus speak of famines during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41–54), while the Jewish historian Josephus mentions a famine in Judea in A.D. 46–48. Luke is interested, rather, in showing the charity of the Antiochene community toward the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem despite their differences on mixed communities.
- 11:30 Presbyters: this is the same Greek word that elsewhere is translated “elders,” primarily in reference to the Jewish community.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.