Acts 11-12

New American Standard Bible 1995

Peter Reports at Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^[a](B)those who were circumcised took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(C)You ^[b]went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began speaking ^[c]and proceeded to explain to them ^(D)in orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(F)a vision, an ^[d]object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from ^[e]the sky; and it came right down to me, ⁶ and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it ^[f]I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the ^[g]crawling creatures and the birds of the ^[h]air. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; ^[i]kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing ^[j]unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(G)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[k]consider unholy.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into ^[l]the sky. ¹¹ And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from ^(H)Caesarea. ^12 (I)The Spirit told me to go with them ^[m](J)without misgivings. ^(K)These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^[n]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(L)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(M)all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, ^(N)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(O)as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(P)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[o]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore if ^(Q)God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(R)who was I that I could ^[p]stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they ^[q]quieted down and ^(S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^(T)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church at Antioch

^19 (U)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[r]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[s]to ^(V)Phoenicia and ^(W)Cyprus and ^(X)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(Y)Cyprus and ^(Z)Cyrene, who came to ^(AA)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[t](AB)Greeks also, ^[u](AC)preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(AD)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(AE)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[v]news about them ^[w]reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^(AF)Barnabas off ^[x]to ^(AG)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[y]witnessed ^(AH)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[z]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(AI)full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And ^(AJ)considerable ^[aa]numbers were ^[ab]brought to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(AK)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(AL)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[ac]met with the church and taught considerable ^[ad]numbers; and ^(AM)the disciples were first called ^(AN)Christians in ^(AO)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[ae]at this time ^(AP)some prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AQ)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them named ^(AR)Agabus stood up and began to indicate ^[af]by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine ^(AS)all over the ^[ag]world. ^[ah]And this took place in the reign of ^(AT)Claudius. ²⁹ And in the proportion that any of ^(AU)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[ai]relief of ^(AV)the brethren living in Judea. ^30 (AW)And this they did, sending it ^[aj]in charge of ^(AX)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AY)elders.

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[ak]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. ² And he ^(AZ)had James the brother of John ^(BA)put to death with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(BB)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ^[al]it was during ^(BC)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ^[am](BD)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^(BE)the Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶ On ^[an]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(BF)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(BG)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(BH)appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(BI)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ^[ao]put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(BJ)a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(BK)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(BL)came ^[ap]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(BM)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[aq]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(BN)John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(BO)were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(BP)a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(BQ)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^(BR)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(BS)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[ar](BT)James and ^(BU)the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to ^[as]what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(BV)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(BW)Caesarea and was spending time there.

Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(BX)Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(BY)their country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the ^[at]rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(BZ)an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and ^[au]died.

²⁴ But ^(CA)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵ And ^(CB)Barnabas and ^(CC)Saul returned ^[av]from Jerusalem ^(CD)when they had fulfilled their ^[aw]mission, taking along with them ^(CE)John, who was also called Mark.