1 Now the apostles and athe brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, athose who were circumcised took issue with him, 3 saying, "aYou went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." 4 But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them ain orderly sequence, saying, 5 "aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ba vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, 6 and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. 7 "I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 "But I said, 'By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "But a voice from heaven answered a second time, 'aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.' 10 "This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. 11 "And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from aCaesarea. 12 "aThe Spirit told me to go with them bwithout misgivings. cThese six brethren also went with me and we entered the man's house. 13 "And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, 'Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; 14 and he will speak awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ball your household.' 15 "And as I began to speak, athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just bas He did upon us at the beginning. 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 "Therefore if aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, bwho was I that I could stand in God's way?" 18 When they heard this, they quieted down and aglorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the brepentance that leads to life." 19 aSo then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to bPhoenicia and cCyprus and dAntioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of aCyprus and bCyrene, who came to cAntioch and began speaking to the dGreeks also, epreaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And athe hand of the Lord was with them, and ba large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent aBarnabas off to bAntioch. 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed athe grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and afull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And bconsiderable numbers were brought to the Lord. 25 And he left for aTarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to aAntioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and bthe disciples were first called cChristians in aAntioch. 27 Now at this time asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to bAntioch. 28 One of them named aAgabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine ball over the world. And this took place in the reign of cClaudius. 29 And in the proportion that any of athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of bthe brethren living in Judea. 30 aAnd this they did, sending it in charge of bBarnabas and Saul to the celders.