Chronological
Controversy and vindication
11 The apostles, and the brothers and sisters with them in Judaea, heard that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who wanted to emphasize circumcision took issue with him.
3 “Why did you do it?” they asked. “Why did you go in to visit uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
4 So Peter began to explain it all, step by step.
5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and I was praying. I was in a trance, and I saw a vision: something like a great sail suspended by its four corners was let down from heaven, and came towards me. 6 I stared at it, then I began to look in, and I saw four-footed land animals, wild beasts, reptiles and birds of the air. 7 I heard a voice, saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!’ 8 ‘Certainly not, Lord,’ I replied. ‘Nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9 Then the voice came from heaven a second time: ‘What God made clean, you must not regard as common.’ 10 All this happened three times, and then the whole lot was drawn back up into heaven.
11 “Just then, suddenly, three men appeared at the house where I was, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The spirit told me to go with them, without raising scrupulous objections. These six brothers also came with me, and we went into the man’s house. 13 He told us that he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and fetch Simon called Peter, 14 who will speak to you words by which you and all your house will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the holy spirit fell on them, just as the spirit did on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word which the Lord had spoken: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the holy spirit.’
17 “So, then,” Peter concluded, “if God gave them the same gift as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who was I to stand in the way of God?”
18 When they heard this, they had nothing more to say. They praised God.
“Well, then,” they declared, “God has given the Gentiles, too, the repentance that leads to life!”
Taking root—and a name!—in Antioch
19 The people who had been scattered because of the persecution that came about over Stephen went as far afield as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word only to Jewish people. 20 But some from among them, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene in the first place, arrived in Antioch and spoke to the Hellenists as well, announcing the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of all this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God he was glad, and he urged them all to stay firmly loyal to the Lord from the bottom of their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the holy spirit and faith. And a substantial crowd was added to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul 26 and, when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. They were there a whole year, and were received hospitably in the church, and taught a substantial crowd. And it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.”
27 Around that time, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, Agabus by name, stood up and gave an indication through the spirit that there would be a great famine over the whole world. (This took place in the reign of Claudius.) 29 Each of the disciples determined, according to their ability, to send what they could to help the brothers and sisters living in Judaea. 30 They carried out this plan, sending their gift to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Herod kills James
12 Around that time, King Herod began to use violence towards some members of the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Judaeans, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. (This was around the time of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.) 4 So, when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and gave four squads of soldiers the job of guarding him, with the intention of bringing him out to the people after Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison. But the church prayed earnestly to God on his behalf.
Peter’s rescue and Rhoda’s mistake
6 On the night when Herod was intending to bring Peter out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. There were guards on the doors, watching the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell.
The angel hit Peter on the side and woke him up.
“Get up quickly!” he said.
The chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel spoke again.
“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” he said. So Peter did.
“Put on your cloak and follow me,” said the angel.
9 So he went out, following the angel. He didn’t think all this business with the angel was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They went through the first set of guards; then the second; and then they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened all by itself. They went out and walked along a street. Suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to his senses.
“Now I know it’s true!” he said. “The Lord sent his angel and snatched me out of Herod’s hands. He rescued me from all the things the Judaeans were intending to do.”
12 Once he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary, John Mark’s mother. Lots of people were gathered there, praying. 13 Peter knocked at the door in the outer gate, and a maid called Rhoda came to answer it. 14 When she heard Peter’s voice, she was so excited that she didn’t open the gate. Instead, she ran back in and told them that Peter was standing outside the gate.
15 “You’re mad!” they said to her. But she insisted that it really was true.
“It must be his angel!” they said.
16 Meanwhile Peter carried on knocking. They opened the door and saw him, and were astonished. 17 He made a sign with his hand for them to be quiet. Then he told them how the Lord had led him out of the prison.
“Tell this to James, and to the other brothers and sisters,” he said.
Then he left, and went somewhere else.
18 When morning came, there was quite a commotion among the guards as to what had become of Peter. 19 Herod looked for him but couldn’t find him. He interrogated the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judaea and went down to Caesarea, and stayed there.
Herod’s vanity and death
20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They all came together to meet him, and they persuaded Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedchamber, to seek a reconciliation. (They were, you see, dependent on the king’s country for their food.) 21 So a day was set, and Herod dressed himself in his royal robes and took his seat on the official platform to make a public address to them.
22 The people began to shout, “The voice of a god, not of a mortal!”
23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and expired.
24 But God’s word grew and multiplied. 25 Barnabas and Saul had by now accomplished their ministry in Jerusalem, and they came back to Antioch, bringing John Mark with them.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.