Knox Bible

1

And now the apostles and brethren in Judaea were told how the word of God had been given to the Gentiles.

2

And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who held to the tradition of circumcision found fault with him;

3

Why didst thou pay a visit, they asked, to men who are uncircumcised, and eat with them?

4

Whereupon Peter told them the story point by point from the beginning;

5

I was in the city of Joppa, he said, at my prayers, when I fell into a trance and saw a vision. A bundle, like a great sheet, came down from heaven, lowered by the four corners, till it reached me.

6

I looked closely to find out what it was, and there I saw four-footed creatures of earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and the birds that fly in heaven.

7

And I heard a voice saying to me, Rise up, Peter, lay about thee and eat.

8

So I answered, It cannot be, Lord; nothing profane or unclean has ever crossed my lips.

9

And a second utterance came from heaven in answer, It is not for thee to call anything profane, which God has made clean.

10

Three times this happened, and then all was drawn up again into heaven.

11

And at that very moment three men appeared at the door of the house where I was, with a message to me from Caesarea.

12

The Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving; so these six brethren came with me, and together we entered the man’s home.

13

There he told us how he had had a vision of an angel in his house; this angel stood before him, and said, Send to Joppa, and bid Simon, who is also called Peter, come to thee.

14

He will have such a message for thee as will bring salvation to thee and to all thy household.

15

And then, when I had set about speaking to them, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as it was with us at the beginning.

16

Then I was reminded of what the Lord said to us, John’s baptism was with water, but there is a baptism with the Holy Spirit which you are to receive.✻

17

And now, if God has made them the same free gift, which he made to us when faith in the Lord Jesus had gone before it, who was I, what power had I, to stay God’s hand?

18

At these words, they were content, and gave glory to God; Why then, they said, it seems God has granted life-giving repentance of heart to the Gentiles too.

19

Meanwhile, those who had been dispersed owing to the persecution that was raised over Stephen had travelled as far away as Phoenice and Cyprus and Antioch, without preaching the word to anyone except the Jews.

20

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they found their way to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks as well, preaching the Lord Jesus to them.✻

21

And the Lord’s power went with them, so that a great number learned to believe, and turned to the Lord.

22

The story of this came to the ears of the Church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas on a mission to Antioch.

23

When he came there and saw what grace God was bestowing on them, he was full of joy, and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with steady purpose of heart,

24

like the good man he was, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith; a great multitude was thus won over to the Lord.

25

He went on to Tarsus, to look for Saul, and when he found him, brought him back to Antioch.

26

For a whole year after this they were made welcome in the Church there, teaching a great multitude. And Antioch was the first place in which the disciples were called Christians.

27

At this time, some prophets from Jerusalem visited Antioch;

28

and one of these, Agabus by name, stood up and prophesied through the Spirit that a great famine was to come upon the whole world, as it did in the reign of the emperor Claudius.

29

Thereupon it was decided that each of the disciples should contribute according to his means, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judaea.

30

And so they did; and in sending it to the presbyters they entrusted it to the hands of Barnabas and Saul.✻