Acts 11:1–12:25

Peter Reports at Jerusalem

1 Now the apostles and athe brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, 1athose who were circumcised took issue with him,

3 saying, “aYou 1went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

4 But Peter began speaking 1and proceeded to explain to them ain orderly sequence, saying,

5 “aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ba vision, an 1object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from 2the sky; and it came right down to me,

6 and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it 1I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the 2crawling creatures and the birds of the 3air.

7 “I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; 1kill and eat.’

8 “But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing 1unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

9 “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘aWhat God has cleansed, no longer 1consider unholy.’

10 “This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into 1the sky.

11 “And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from aCaesarea.

12 “aThe Spirit told me to go with them 1bwithout misgivings. cThese six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.

13 “And he reported to us how he had seen the angel 1standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

14 and he will speak awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ball your household.’

15 “And as I began to speak, athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just bas He did upon us at the beginning.

16 “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized 1with the Holy Spirit.’

17 “Therefore if aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, bwho was I that I could 1stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they 1quieted down and aglorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the brepentance that leads to life.”

The Church at Antioch

19 aSo then those who were scattered because of the 1persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way 2to bPhoenicia and cCyprus and dAntioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

20 But there were some of them, men of aCyprus and bCyrene, who came to cAntioch and began speaking to the 1dGreeks also, 2epreaching the Lord Jesus.

21 And athe hand of the Lord was with them, and ba large number who believed turned to the Lord.

22 The 1news about them 2reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent aBarnabas off 3to bAntioch.

23 Then when he arrived and 1witnessed athe grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with 2resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

24 for he was a good man, and afull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And bconsiderable 1numbers were 2brought to the Lord.

25 And he left for aTarsus to look for Saul;

26 and when he had found him, he brought him to aAntioch. And for an entire year they 1met with the church and taught considerable 2numbers; and bthe disciples were first called cChristians in aAntioch.

27 Now 1at this time asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to bAntioch.

28 One of them named aAgabus stood up and began to indicate 1by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine ball over the 2world. 3And this took place in the reign of cClaudius.

29 And in the proportion that any of athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the 1relief of bthe brethren living in Judea.

30 aAnd this they did, sending it 1in charge of bBarnabas and Saul to the celders.

Chapter 12

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

1 Now about that time 1Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.

2 And he ahad James the brother of John bput to death with a sword.

3 When he saw that it apleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now 1it was during bthe days of Unleavened Bread.

4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four 1asquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after bthe Passover to bring him out before the people.

5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

6 On 1the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, abound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

7 And behold, aan angel of the Lord suddenly bappeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And chis chains fell off his hands.

8 And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and 1put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he * said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

9 And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing aa vision.

10 When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which aopened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 When Peter acame 1to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that bthe Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all 2that the Jewish people were expecting.”

12 And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of aJohn who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and bwere praying.

13 When he knocked at the door of the gate, aa servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.

14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, abecause of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ahis angel.”

16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

17 But amotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to 1bJames and cthe brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to 1what could have become of Peter.

19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they abe led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to bCaesarea and was spending time there.

Death of Herod

20 Now he was very angry with the people of aTyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because btheir country was fed by the king’s country.

21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the 1rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

23 And immediately aan angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and 1died.

24 But athe word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

25 And aBarnabas and aSaul returned 1from Jerusalem bwhen they had fulfilled their 2mission, taking along with them cJohn, who was also called Mark.