Acts 11:19–30

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed^m traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,ⁿ spreading the word only among Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus^o and Cyrene,^p went to Antioch^q and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news^r about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord’s hand was with them,^s and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.^t

²²News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas^u to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,^v he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.^{w 24}He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^x and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.^y

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus^z to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples^a were called Christians first^b at Antioch.

²⁷During this time some prophets^c came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them, named Agabus,^d stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.^e (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)^{f 29}The disciples,^g as each one was able, decided to provide help^h for the brothers and sistersⁱ living in Judea. ³⁰This they did, sending their gift to the elders^j by Barnabas^k and Saul.^l