Acts 11 : 1 (NLT)
Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.
Acts 11 : 2 (NLT)
But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.
Acts 11 : 3 (NLT)
"You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said.
Acts 11 : 4 (NLT)
Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.
Acts 11 : 5 (NLT)
"I was in the town of Joppa," he said, "and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.
Acts 11 : 6 (NLT)
When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of small animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds.
Acts 11 : 7 (NLT)
And I heard a voice say, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.'
Acts 11 : 8 (NLT)
" 'No, Lord,' I replied. 'I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. '
Acts 11 : 9 (NLT)
"But the voice from heaven spoke again: 'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.'
Acts 11 : 10 (NLT)
This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.
Acts 11 : 11 (NLT)
"Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.
Acts 11 : 12 (NLT)
The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.
Acts 11 : 13 (NLT)
He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, 'Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.
Acts 11 : 14 (NLT)
He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!'
Acts 11 : 15 (NLT)
"As I began to speak," Peter continued, "the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.
Acts 11 : 16 (NLT)
Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
Acts 11 : 17 (NLT)
And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way?"
Acts 11 : 18 (NLT)
When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, "We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life."
Acts 11 : 19 (NLT)
Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews.
Acts 11 : 20 (NLT)
However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.
Acts 11 : 21 (NLT)
The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.
Acts 11 : 22 (NLT)
When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Acts 11 : 23 (NLT)
When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.
Acts 11 : 24 (NLT)
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.
Acts 11 : 25 (NLT)
Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.
Acts 11 : 26 (NLT)
When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)
Acts 11 : 27 (NLT)
During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Acts 11 : 28 (NLT)
One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)
Acts 11 : 29 (NLT)
So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.
Acts 11 : 30 (NLT)
This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.
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