Study Desk

Now the apostles and ^(C1)the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^(F1)(C1)the Jewish believers took issue with him,

saying, "^(C1)You ^(F1)went to ^(F2)uncircumcised men and ate with them."

But Peter began and explained at length to them ^(C1)in an orderly sequence, saying,

"^(C1)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(C2)a vision, an ^(F1)object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the ^(F1)crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.

"I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; ^(F1)kill and eat.'

"But I said, 'By no means, Lord, for nothing ^(F1)unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'

"But a voice from heaven answered a second time, '^(C1)What God has cleansed, no longer ^(F1)consider unholy.'

"This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

"And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from ^(C1)Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying.

"^(C1)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^(C2)without ^(F1)misgivings. ^(C3)These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.

"And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^(F1)standing in his house, and saying, 'Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

and he will speak ^(C1)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(C2)all your household.'

"And as I began to speak, ^(C1)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(C2)as He did upon us at the beginning.

"And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, '^(C1)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^(F1)with the Holy Spirit.'

"Therefore, if ^(C1)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(C2)who was I that I could ^(F1)stand in God's way?"

When they heard this, they ^(F1)quieted down and ^(C1)glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the ^(C2)repentance that leads to life."

^(C1)So then those who were scattered because of the ^(F1)persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^(F2)to ^(C2)Phoenicia, ^(C3)Cyprus, and ^(C4)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

But there were some of them, men of ^(C1)Cyprus and ^(C2)Cyrene, who came to ^(C3)Antioch and began speaking to the ^(F1)(C4)Greeks as well, ^(C5)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

And ^(C1)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(C2)a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

The ^(F1)news about them ^(F2)reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(C1)Barnabas off ^(F3)to ^(C2)Antioch.

Then when he arrived and ^(F1)witnessed ^(C1)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^(F2)resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

for he was a good man, and ^(C1)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^(F1)(C2)considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

And he left for ^(C1)Tarsus to look for Saul;

and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(C1)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^(F1)met with the church and taught ^(F2)considerable numbers of people; and ^(C2)the disciples were first called ^(C3)Christians in ^(C1)Antioch.

Now ^(F1)at this time some ^(C1)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(C2)Antioch.

One of them, named ^(C1)Agabus, stood up and ^(F1)indicated ^(F2)by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(C2)all over the ^(F3)world. ^(F4)And this took place in the reign of ^(C3)Claudius.

And to the extent that any of ^(C1)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^(F1)relief of ^(C2)the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

^(C1)And they did this, sending it ^(F1)with ^(C2)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(C3)elders.