Beginning

Peter’s Report to the Church in Jerusalem

11 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised disputed with him, ³ saying, “You went in and ate with uncircumcised men!”

⁴ Peter began explaining it to them in order, saying, ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying. And in a trance I saw a vision: A vessel like a great sheet was descending, let down from heaven by four corners, and it came to me. ⁶ I considered what I had observed and saw four-footed creatures and wild beasts and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸ “I said, ‘Not at all, Lord. For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’

⁹ “The voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times. And again everything was taken up into heaven.

¹¹ “And immediately three men sent from Caesarea to me came to the house where I was. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. Moreover these six brothers came with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is 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 fell on them, as He fell on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’^{[a] 17} If then God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things, they were silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.”

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered by the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ Some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²² News of these things came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and exhorted them all to remain with the Lord with a loyal heart. ²⁴ For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And many people were added to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶ When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷ In these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and prophesied by the Spirit that there would be a great famine throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. ²⁹ Then every disciple, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea. ³⁰ Indeed they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12 About that time King Herod extended his hands to harm certain ones from the church. ² He killed James the brother of John with the sword. ³ Seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to arrest Peter also. This happened during the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison. But the church prayed to God without ceasing for him.

Peter Delivered From Prison

⁶ The very night when Herod would have brought him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. And the guards before the door were securing the prison. ⁷ And suddenly an angel of the Lord approached him, and a light shone in the prison. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up, quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put your sandals on.” And he did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ He went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guards, they came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened to them by itself. And they went out and went forward one street. And immediately the angel left him.

¹¹ When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I certainly know that the Lord has sent His angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹² Realizing this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. ¹³ As Peter knocked at the door of the porch, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, from joy she did not open the door, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the door.

¹⁵ They said to her, “You are insane.” But she insisted that it was really so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was a great disturbance among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.

Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰ Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him in unity, and having made Blastus, the king’s personal servant, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.

²¹ On an appointed day, Herod, dressed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave a public speech to them. ²² The mob shouted, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!” ²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory. And he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ But the word of God spread and increased.

²⁵ When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their ministry, they returned from Jerusalem and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Commissioned

13 In the church that was in Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they worshipped the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John as an assistant.

⁶ When they had gone through the whole island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (which is his name by interpretation) opposed them, trying to divert the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him and said, ¹⁰ “You son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, full of deceit and of all fraud, will you not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, look! The hand of the Lord is against you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”

Immediately mist and darkness fell on him, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed and was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia

¹³ Now when Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But they departed from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. ¹⁷ The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt, and with great power He led them out of it. ¹⁸ For about forty years He endured their conduct in the desert. ¹⁹ When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance by lot.

²⁰ “After about four hundred and fifty years, God gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they requested a king. And God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² When He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified, saying, ‘I have found David^[b] the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will fulfill My entire will.’^[c]

²³ “From this man’s descendants God has raised a Savior for Israel, Jesus, according to His promise. ²⁴ Before His coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But look! He is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’^[d]

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who fear God, the word of this salvation has been sent to us. ²⁷ Because those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, did not know Him, in condemning Him they have fulfilled the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Though they found in Him no cause worthy of death, yet they asked Pilate to have Him killed. ²⁹ When they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and placed Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised Him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.

³² “We preach to you good news: The promise which was made to the fathers, ³³ God has fulfilled to us, their children, raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

³⁴ That He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way:

³⁵ So He says in another Psalm:

³⁶ “For after David had served by the counsel of God in his own generation, he fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw decay. ³⁷ But He whom God raised up saw no decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore beware, lest what is spoken of in the prophets come upon you:

⁴² When Paul and Barnabas went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles asked that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, blaspheming and contradicting what Paul was saying.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But seeing you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For thus has the Lord commanded us:

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And all who were ordained to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ The word of the Lord was spread throughout the entire region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city, and raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them from their region. ⁵¹ So they shook off the dust of their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.