Act 11 | Mont | STEP | Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God;

‏ Acts 11

1 Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God; 2 so, when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party disputed with him, 3 saying, "You went into the houses of the uncircumcised and ate with them!" 4 Then Peter began and explained the whole matter to them in order, saying. 5 "I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and while in a trance I saw a vision; a certain vessel descending, what seemed to be an enormous sail let down to me, 6 and while I gazed at it, I examined it carefully, and saw the quadrupeds of the earth and the wild beasts and creeping things and the wild birds. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat.’ 8 "‘Not so, my Lord’ said I, ‘for nothing common or unclean has ever gone into my mouth.’ 9 "But for the second time a voice spoke from the sky, ‘What God has cleansed, you must not call common.’ 10 "This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. 11 "And lo! at that very moment, three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was. 12 "And the Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving. There also accompanied me these six brothers, and we went into the man’s house. 13 "Then he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying. "‘Send to Joppa and fetch Simon who is also called Peter. 14 "‘He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.’ 15 "And," said Peter, "as soon as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as he fell upon us at the beginning. 16 "Then I remembered the words of the Lord, how he used to say, "John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ 17 "So if God gave them the same gift as he gave to us, when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" 18 On hearing this they held their peace and glorified God, saying, "Forsooth then, to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life."

19 Then those who had been scattered by the trouble that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; but they preached the word to none except Jews. 20 Some of them, however, were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on reaching Antioch, began to tell the Greeks also the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 When news of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch. 23 When he arrived, and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord, with full purpose of heart; 24 for he was a good man, and full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And a great multitude was added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas visited Tarsus, to try to find Saul, 26 and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church, and taught many people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of "Christians."

27 At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, who was Agabus, rose up, and being instructed by the Spirit, predicted that a great famine was about to come upon the whole inhabited earth. (It came in the reign of Claudius.) 29 So the disciples decided to send relief, every man according to his means, to the brothers in Judea. 30 This they did, forwarding their contributions to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.