Acts 11:2–23

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,