Acts 11

1 - 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, The Circumcised Believers Criticized Him

3 - And Said, "You Went Into The House Of Uncircumcised Men And Ate With Them."

4 - Peter Began And Explained Everything To Them Precisely As It Had Happened:

5 - "I Was In The City Of Joppa Praying, And In A Trance I Saw A Vision. I Saw Something Like A Large Sheet Being Let Down From Heaven By Its Four Corners, And It Came Down To Where I Was.

6 - I Looked Into It And Saw Four-footed Animals Of The Earth, Wild Beasts, Reptiles, And Birds Of The Air.

7 - Then I Heard A Voice Telling Me, 'Get Up, Peter. Kill And Eat.'

8 - "I Replied, 'Surely Not, Lord! Nothing Impure Or Unclean Has Ever Entered My Mouth.'

9 - "The Voice Spoke From Heaven A Second Time, 'Do Not Call Anything Impure That God Has Made Clean.'

10 - This Happened Three Times, And Then It Was All Pulled Up To Heaven Again.

11 - "Right Then Three Men Who Had Been Sent To Me From Caesarea Stopped At The House Where I Was Staying.

12 - The Spirit Told Me To Have No Hesitation About Going With Them. These Six Brothers Also Went With Me, And We Entered The Man's House.

13 - He Told Us How He Had Seen An Angel Appear In His House And Say, 'Send To Joppa For Simon Who Is Called Peter.

14 - He Will Bring You A Message Through Which You And All Your Household Will Be Saved.'

15 - "As I Began To Speak, The Holy Spirit Came On Them As He Had Come On Us At The Beginning.

16 - Then I Remembered What The Lord Had Said: 'John Baptized With Water, But You Will Be Baptized With The Holy Spirit.'

17 - So If God Gave Them The Same Gift As He Gave Us, Who Believed In The Lord Jesus Christ, Who Was I To Think That I Could Oppose God?"

18 - When They Heard This, They Had No Further Objections And Praised God, Saying, "So Then, God Has Granted Even The Gentiles Repentance Unto Life."

19 - Now Those Who Had Been Scattered By The Persecution In Connection With Stephen Traveled As Far As Phoenicia, Cyprus And Antioch, Telling The Message Only To Jews.

20 - Some Of Them, However, Men From Cyprus And Cyrene, Went To Antioch And Began To Speak To Greeks Also, Telling Them The Good News About The Lord Jesus.

21 - The Lord's Hand Was With Them, And A Great Number Of People Believed And Turned To The Lord.

22 - News Of This Reached The Ears Of The Church At Jerusalem, And They Sent Barnabas To Antioch.

23 - When He Arrived And Saw The Evidence Of The Grace Of God, He Was Glad And Encouraged Them All To Remain True To The Lord With All Their Hearts.

24 - He 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 To Antioch. So For A Whole Year Barnabas And Saul Met With The Church And Taught Great Numbers Of People. The Disciples Were Called Christians First At Antioch.

27 - During This Time Some Prophets Came Down From Jerusalem To Antioch.

28 - One Of Them, Named Agabus, Stood Up And Through The Spirit Predicted That A Severe Famine Would Spread Over The Entire Roman World. (This Happened During The Reign Of Claudius.)

29 - The Disciples, Each According To His Ability, Decided To Provide Help For The Brothers Living In Judea.

30 - This They Did, Sending Their Gift To The Elders By Barnabas And Saul.