The Mission of the Twelve

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town,^(A)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)^[a](A)

²¹ Then he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles.’ ”^(A)

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²² Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” ²³ And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air,^(B)

²² You^[a] worship what you^[b] do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.^{(A) 23} But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.^{(B) 24} God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”^(C)

² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.^(A)

⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors^{(A) 9} and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

⁴⁵ The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles,^{(A) 46} for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”^{(B) 48} So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.^(C)

Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers^[a] criticized him,^{(D) 3} saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”^{(E) 4} Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me.^{(F) 6} As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.^[b] These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.^{(G) 13} He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter;^{(H) 14} he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.^{(I) 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.’^{(J) 17} If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”^{(K) 18} When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”^(L)

8 ¹ And Saul approved of their killing him.

Saul Persecutes the Church

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.^(A)

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”^(A)