Acts 11–12

Peter Reports to the Church

11Now the apostles and ^rthe brothers¹ who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, ^sthe circumcision party² criticized him, saying, ^3t“You went to uncircumcised men and ^uate with them.” ⁴But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ^5v“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them, ^wmaking no distinction. ^xThese six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ^14yhe will declare to you a message by which ^zyou will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵As I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell on them ^bjust as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ^c‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷If then ^dGod gave ^ethe same gift to them as he gave to us ^fwhen we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^gwho was I ^hthat I could stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸When they heard these things they fell silent. And they ⁱglorified God, saying, ^j“Then to the Gentiles also God has ^kgranted ^lrepentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19mNow those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists³ also, ⁿpreaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^othe hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed ^pturned to the Lord. ²²The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When he came and saw ^qthe grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord ^rwith steadfast purpose, ²⁴for he was a good man, ^sfull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people ^twere added to the Lord. ²⁵So Barnabas went to ^uTarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called ^vChristians.

²⁷Now in these days ^wprophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸And one of them named ^xAgabus stood up and foretold ^yby the Spirit that there would be a great ^zfamine over all the world (this took place in the days of ^aClaudius). ²⁹So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, ^bto send relief to ^cthe brothers⁴ living in Judea. ^30dAnd they did so, sending it to ^ethe elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ²He killed ^fJames the brother of John ^gwith the sword, ³and when he saw ^hthat it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during ⁱthe days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴And when he had seized him, he put him ^jin prison, delivering him over to four ^ksquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest ^lprayer for him was made to God by the church.

Peter Is Rescued

⁶Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^mbound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷And behold, ⁿan angel of the Lord ^ostood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. ^pHe struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^qthe chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and ^rput on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but ^sthought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. ^tIt opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹When Peter ^ucame to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that ^vthe Lord has sent his angel and ^wrescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^xJohn whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and ^ywere praying. ¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, ^za servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴Recognizing Peter’s voice, ^ain her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is ^bhis angel!” ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷But ^cmotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to ^dJames and to ^ethe brothers.”¹ Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ^fordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and ^ghaving persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain,² they asked for peace, because ^htheir country depended on the king’s country for food. ²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. ²²And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” ²³Immediately ⁱan angel of the Lord struck him down, because ^jhe did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But ^kthe word of God increased and multiplied.

^25lAnd Barnabas and Saul returned from³ Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them ^mJohn, whose other name was Mark.