| 1. | Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. |
| 2. | So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, |
| 3. | saying, "You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them." |
| 4. | Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, |
| 5. | "I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. |
| 6. | Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. |
| 7. | I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.' |
| 8. | But I said, 'Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' |
| 9. | But a second time a voice from heaven answered, 'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.' |
| 10. | This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. |
| 11. | Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. |
| 12. | The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. |
| 13. | He related to us how he had seen (the) angel standing in his house, saying, 'Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, |
| 14. | who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.' |
| 15. | As I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, |
| 16. | and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.' |
| 17. | If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?" |
| 18. | When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too." |
| 19. | Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews. |
| 20. | There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however, who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. |
| 21. | The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. |
| 22. | The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas (to go) to Antioch. |
| 23. | When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, |
| 24. | for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people was added to the Lord. |
| 25. | Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, |
| 26. | and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. |
| 27. | At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, |
| 28. | and one of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world, and it happened under Claudius. |
| 29. | So the disciples determined that, according to ability, each should send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea. |
| 30. | This they did, sending it to the presbyters in care of Barnabas and Saul. |
