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Peter’s Report at Jerusalem

¹ The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him³ and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”⁴ But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events:⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me.⁶ I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.⁷ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’⁸ ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’⁹ But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven.¹¹ Just then, three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying.¹² The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.¹⁴ He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as He had come upon us at the beginning.¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as He used to say, ‘John baptized with water^(a), but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.&rsquo^(a);¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift as He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”¹⁸ When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

The Church at Antioch

¹⁹ Meanwhile, those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews.²⁰ But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.²² When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.²³ When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.²⁴ Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

²⁷ In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the entire Roman world. (This happened under Claudius.)²⁹ So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.³⁰ This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.