Acts 11

1The apostles and the believers all through Judea heard that the non-Jewish people had also received the word of God.

2When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.

3They said: You went into the house of non-Jewish men and ate with them.

4Peter began to explain everything to them, just as it had happened:

5I was in the city of Joppa praying. I fell into a trance and saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet coming down from heaven. It was let down by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.

6I looked closely and saw animals with four feet, wild animals, reptiles, and birds.

7Then I heard a voice telling me: Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.

8I replied: Never, Lord! I have never eaten anything unclean.

9The voice spoke from heaven again: Do not call anything unclean that God has made clean.

10This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11Just then, three men sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying.

12The Spirit told me not to hesitate to go with them. These six brothers went with me too, and we all went into the man's house.

13He told us that he had seen an angel standing in his house. The angel said: Send men to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter.

14He will bring you a message. Through it, you and everyone in your house will be saved.

15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as He had come on us at the beginning.

16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

17God gave them the same gift He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So who was I to think I could stand in God's way?

18When they heard this, they stopped objecting and praised God. They said: So then, God has given the non-Jewish people the chance to turn away from sin and live.

19Now the believers who had been scattered because of the persecution that started when Stephen was killed had traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They spread the word only among Jews.

20But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch. They began to speak to Greeks too, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

21The Lord's power was with them, and many people believed and turned to the Lord.

22News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

23When Barnabas arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad. He encouraged everyone to stay true to the Lord with all their hearts.

24Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Many more people were brought to the Lord.

25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

26When he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught many people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

27During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28One of them, named Agabus, stood up. Through the Spirit, he predicted that a bad famine would spread over the whole Roman world. This happened while Claudius was emperor.

29So the disciples decided that each one would give what he could to help the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

30They did this, and sent their gift to the elders through Barnabas and Saul.