Acts 11–12

And the apostles and ^abrethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ²And when Peter was ^bcome up to Jerusalem, ^cthey that were of the circumcision contended with him, ³saying, ^dThou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and ^edidst eat with them. ⁴But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and ^fexpounded it ^gby order unto them, saying, ^5hI was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw ⁱa vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: ⁶upon the which when I had ^jfastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. ⁷And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. ⁸But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. ⁹But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. ¹⁰And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹And behold, immediately there were three men ^kalready come unto the house where I was, sent from Cesarea unto me. ¹²And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover ^lthese six ^abrethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house: ¹³and he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; ¹⁴who shall tell thee ^mwords, whereby thou and ⁿall thy house shall be saved. ¹⁵And as I began to speak, ^othe Holy Ghost fell on them, ^pas on us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then ^qremembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, ^rJohn indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. ^17sForasmuch then as God gave them the like ^tgift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could ^uwithstand God? ¹⁸When they heard these things, they held their peace, and ^xglorified God, saying, ^yThen hath God also to the Gentiles granted ^zrepentance unto life.

¹⁹Now ^athey which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as ^bPhenice, and ^cCyprus, and ^dAntioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. ²⁰And some of them were men of ^cCyprus and ^eCyrene, which, when they were come to ^dAntioch, spake unto the ^fGrecians, ^gpreaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^hthe hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number ⁱbelieved, and ⁱⁱturned unto the Lord. ²²Then ^jtidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth ^kBarnabas, that he should go as far as ^dAntioch. ²³Who, when he came, and had seen ^lthe grace of God, was glad, and ^mexhorted them all, that with ⁿpurpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. ²⁴For he was ^oa good man, and ^pfull of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people ^qwas added unto the Lord. ²⁵Then departed Barnabas to ^rTarsus, for to seek Saul: ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him unto ^sAntioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people, and the ^tdisciples were called ^uChristians first in ^sAntioch.

²⁷And in these days came ^xprophets from Jerusalem unto ^sAntioch. ²⁸And there stood up one of them named ^yAgabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great ^zdearth throughout all ^athe world: which came to pass in the days of ^bClaudius Cesar. ²⁹Then the ^tdisciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send ^crelief unto the ^dbrethren which dwelt in Judea: ^30ewhich also they did, and sent it to ^fthe elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

XII.Now about that time ^aHerod the king ^bstretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. ²And he killed ^cJames the brother of ^dJohn ^ewith the sword. ³And ^eebecause he saw it pleased the Jews, he ^fproceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were ^gthe days of unleavened bread.) ⁴And when he had apprehended him, he put him in ^hprison, and delivered him to four ⁱquaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after ^jEaster to bring him forth to the people. ⁵Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing ^kof the church unto God for him. ⁶And when ^aHerod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with ^ltwo chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. ⁷And behold, ^mthe angel of the Lord ⁿcame upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and ^ohe smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. ⁸And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and ^pbind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. ⁹And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought ^qhe saw ^ra vision. ¹⁰When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; ^swhich opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. ¹¹And when Peter was ^tcome to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent ^uhis angel, and ^whath delivered me out of the hand of ^aHerod, and from all ^xthe expectation of the people of the Jews. ¹²And when he had ^yconsidered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of ^zJohn, whose surname was ^aMark; where many were gathered together ^bpraying.

¹³And as Peter knocked at the door of ^cthe gate, ^da damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. ¹⁴And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not ^cthe gate ^efor gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before ^cthe gate. ¹⁵And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she ^fconstantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is ^ghis angel. ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷But he, ^hbeckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto ⁱJames, and to ^kthe brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. ¹⁸Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. ¹⁹And when ^lHerod had sought for him, and found him not, he ^mexamined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to ⁿCesarea, and there abode.

²⁰And ^lHerod was highly displeased with them of ^oTyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, ^phaving made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because ^qtheir country was nourished by the king’s country. ²¹And upon a set day ^lHerod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his ^rthrone, and made an oration unto them. ²²And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. ²³And immediately the angel of the Lord ^ssmote him, because ^the gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. ²⁴But ^uthe word of God grew and multiplied. ^25wAnd ^xBarnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ^yministry, and ^ttook with them ^zJohn, whose surname was ^zMark.

XIII.