1Now the apostles and the believers in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received God’s word.
2When Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who insisted on circumcision argued with him,
3saying, “You went into the homes of uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
4But Peter began to explain everything to them in order, saying,
5“I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet, held by its four corners, was being lowered from heaven, and it came all the way down to me.
6I looked closely at it and saw all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, crawling creatures, and birds of the sky.
7I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’
8But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9But a voice answered me a second time from heaven, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
10This happened three times, and then everything was pulled back up into heaven.
11Just then, three men arrived at the house where I was staying. They had been sent to me from Caesarea.
12The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six brothers also came with me, and we went into the man’s house.
13He told us he had seen an angel standing in his house who told him, 'Send someone to Joppa and get Simon, also known as Peter.'
14Peter will tell you words that will bring salvation to you and everyone in your household.
15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as it did on us in the beginning.
16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
17So if God gave them the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way?
18When they heard this, they stopped arguing and praised God, saying, "Then God has also allowed non-Jews to change their hearts and receive eternal life!"
19Those who had been scattered because of the persecution that started after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
20However, some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
21The Lord's power was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22News about them reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23When he arrived and saw the evidence of God's grace, he was very happy. He encouraged all of them to remain faithful to the Lord with all their hearts.
24Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many more people became followers of the Lord.
25Barnabas then went to Tarsus to look for Saul.
26When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they met with the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the followers were first called Christians.
27During this time, some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and, through the Spirit, predicted that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This famine happened during the reign of Claudius.
29So, each of the disciples, depending on what they could afford, decided to send help to the brothers and sisters living in Judea.
30They did this, sending their contributions to the elders through Barnabas and Saul.