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.