1 Peter Reports at Jerusalem Now the apostles and the believers who were throughout Judea heard [with astonishment] that the Gentiles also had receivedandaccepted the word of God [the message concerning salvation through Christ].
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision [certain Jewish believers who followed the Law] took issue with him [for violating Jewish customs],
3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and [even] ate with them!”
4 But Peter began [at the beginning] and explained [the events] to them step by step, saying,
5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision of an object coming down from heaven, like a huge sheet being lowered by the four corners; and [it descended until] it came right down to me,
6 and looking closely at it, I sawall kinds ofthe four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air [both clean and unclean according to the Law],
7 and I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
8 But I said, ‘Not at all, Lord; for nothing common (unholy) or [ceremonially] unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9 But the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansedandpronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).’
10 This happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.
11 And right then the three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we werestaying.
12 The Spirit told me to go with them without the slightest hesitation. So these six brothers also went with me and we went to the man’s house.
13 And Cornelius told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Sendwordto Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;
14 he will bring a message to you by which you will be saved [and granted eternal life], you and all your household.’
15 When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just asHe didon us at the beginning [at Pentecost].
16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say,‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17 So, if God gave Gentiles the same gift [equally] as He gave us after we acceptedandbelievedandtrusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [as Savior], who was I to interfereorstand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorifiedandpraised God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentancethat leadstoeternallife [that is, real life after earthly death].”
19 The Church at Antioch So then [since they were unaware of these developments] those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with [the stoning of] Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without telling the message [of salvation through Christ] to anyone except Jews.
20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch andbeganspeaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming [to them] the good news about the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand (the power and presence) of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord [for salvation, accepting and drawing near to Jesus as Messiah and Savior].
22 The news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God [that was bestowed on them], he rejoiced andbeganto encourage them all with an unwavering heart to stay trueanddevoted to the Lord.
24 For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] andhe wasfull of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 And Barnabas left for Tarsus to search for Saul;
26 and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For an entire year they met [with others] in the church and instructed large numbers; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
27 Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 One of them named Agabus stood up and prophesied through the [Holy] Spirit that a severe famine would come on theI.e. beyond the region.entire world. And this did happen during the reign ofClaudius Caesar was the fourth Roman Emperor (a.d. 41-54). He came to the throne after the assassination of his nephew, Caligula. He was succeeded by his adopted son, Nero.Claudius.
29 So the disciples decided to senda contribution,each according to his individual ability, to the believers who lived in Judea.
30 And this they did, sending the contribution to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.