Acts 11

1 Now the Apostles, and the brethren in various parts of Judaea, heard that the Gentiles also had received God's Message;

And the apostles and the brethren who are in Judea heard that also the nations did receive the word of God,

2 and, when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the champions of circumcision found fault with him.

and when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision were contending with him,

3 "You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them."

saying — 'Unto men uncircumcised thou didst go in, and didst eat with them!'

4 Peter, however, explained the whole matter to them from the beginning.

And Peter having begun, did expound to them in order saying,

5 "While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

'I was in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw in a trance a vision, a certain vessel coming down, as a great sheet by four corners being let down out of the heaven, and it came unto me;

6 Fixing my eyes on it, I examined it closely, and saw various kinds of quadrupeds, wild beasts, reptiles and birds.

at which having looked stedfastly, I was considering, and I saw the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of heaven;

7 I also heard a voice saying to me, "'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.'

and I heard a voice saying to me, Having risen, Peter, slay and eat;

8 "'On no account, Lord,' I replied, 'for nothing unholy or impure has ever gone into my mouth.'

and I said, Not so, Lord; because anything common or unclean hath at no time entered into my mouth;

9 "But a voice answered, speaking a second time from the sky, "'What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy.'

and a voice did answer me a second time out of the heaven, What God did cleanse, thou — declare not thou common.

10 "This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight.

'And this happened thrice, and again was all drawn up to the heaven,

11 "Now at that very moment three men came to the house where we were, having been sent from Caesarea to find me.

and, lo, immediately, three men stood at the house in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea unto me,

12 And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house.

and the Spirit said to me to go with them, nothing doubting, and these six brethren also went with me, and we did enter into the house of the man,

13 Then he described to us how he had seen the angel come and enter his house and say, "'Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon, surnamed Peter.

he declared also to us how he saw the messenger in his house standing, and saying to him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter,

14 He will teach you truths by which you and all your family will be saved.'"

who shall speak sayings by which thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house.

15 "And," said Peter, "no sooner had I begun to speak than the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He fell upon us at the first.

'And in my beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit did fall upon them, even as also upon us in the beginning,

16 Then I remembered the Lord's words, how He used to say, "'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.'

and I remembered the saying of the Lord, how he said, John indeed did baptize with water, and ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit;

17 "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, why, who was I to be able to thwart God?"

if then the equal gift God did give to them as also to us, having believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, I — how was I able to withstand God?'

18 This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

And they, having heard these things, were silent, and were glorifying God, saying, 'Then, indeed, also to the nations did God give the reformation to life.'

19 Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews.

Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only;

20 But some of them were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also and told them the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus.

and there were certain of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having entered into Antioch, were speaking unto the Hellenists, proclaiming good news — the Lord Jesus,

21 The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

and the hand of the Lord was with them, a great number also, having believed, did turn unto the Lord.

22 When tidings of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.

And the account was heard in the ears of the assembly that [is] in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent forth Barnabas to go through unto Antioch,

23 On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

who, having come, and having seen the grace of God, was glad, and was exhorting all with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord,

24 For he was a good man, and was full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and the number of believers in the Lord greatly increased.

because he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith, and a great multitude was added to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas paid a visit to Tarsus to try to find Saul.

And Barnabas went forth to Tarsus, to seek for Saul,

26 He succeeded, and brought him to Antioch; and for a whole year they attended the meetings of the Church, and taught a large number of people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of 'Christians.'

and having found him, he brought him to Antioch, and it came to pass that they a whole year did assemble together in the assembly, and taught a great multitude, the disciples also were divinely called first in Antioch Christians.

27 At that time certain Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,

And in those days there came from Jerusalem prophets to Antioch,

28 one of whom, named Agabus, being instructed by the Spirit, publicly predicted the speedy coming of a great famine throughout the world. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

and one of them, by name Agabus, having stood up, did signify through the Spirit a great dearth is about to be throughout all the world — which also came to pass in the time of Claudius Caesar —

29 So the disciples decided to send relief, every one in proportion to his means, to the brethren living in Judaea.

and the disciples, according as any one was prospering, determined each of them to send for ministration to the brethren dwelling in Judea,

30 This they did, forwarding their contributions to the Elders by Barnabas and Saul.

which also they did, having sent unto the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.