Peter Defends His Actions

11 The apostles and brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ² When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who insisted on circumcision criticized him, ³ saying, “You went to visit men who were uncircumcised and ate with them!”

⁴ So Peter began to explain everything to them, point by point. He said, ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision in which an object like a large sheet was let down from heaven by its four corners. It came right to me. ⁶ When I inspected it very carefully, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷ I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!’

⁸ “But I replied, ‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹ “A voice spoke from heaven a second time: ‘What God has made clean, you must not continue to call unclean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up into heaven again.

¹¹ “At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without any hesitation. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he saw an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and call for Simon, the one called Peter. ¹⁴ He will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as he came down on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered how the Lord had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’^{[a] 17} So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to try to stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things, they had no further objections, and they praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted repentance that results in life also to the Gentiles!”

A Song of Salvation

⁵ “But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: ⁹ about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; ¹¹ about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹² “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into^[a] all truth. For he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak. He will also declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I said that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.