Acts 11:1-11

GOD’S WORD Translation

Peter Reports That Non-Jewish People Can Belong to the Church

11 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that people who were not Jewish had accepted God’s word. ² However, when Peter went to Jerusalem, the believers who insisted on circumcision began to argue with him. ³ They said, “You went to visit men who were uncircumcised, and you even ate with them.”

⁴ Then Peter began to explain to them point by point what had happened. He said, ⁵ “I was praying in the city of Joppa when I fell into a trance. I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered by its four corners from the sky. The sheet came near me. ⁶ I looked into the sheet very closely and saw tame animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds. ⁷ I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill these animals, and eat them.’

⁸ “But I answered, ‘I can’t do that, Lord! I’ve never put anything impure or unclean ^[a] into my mouth.’

⁹ “A voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Don’t say that the things which God has made clean ^[b] are impure.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back into the sky again.

¹¹ “At that moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent from Caesarea to find me.