Acts 11:19–30

The Church in Antioch

^19aSo 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.

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

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

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

²³who, when he arrived and saw ^athe grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord;

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

²⁵And he left for ^aTarsus to search for Saul;

²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to ^aAntioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ¹met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^bthe disciples were first called ^cChristians in ^dAntioch.

²⁷Now in those days, ^asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^bAntioch.

²⁸And one of them named ^aAgabus stood up and indicated ¹by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^ball over the ²world. ³And this took place in the reign of ^cClaudius.

²⁹And as any of ^athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^bthe brothers living in Judea.

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