Montgomery - Acts - 11

11:1  Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God;

11:2  so, when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party disputed with him,

11:3  saying, "You went into the houses of the uncircumcised and ate with them!"

11:4  Then Peter began and explained the whole matter to them in order, saying.

11:5  "I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and while in a trance I saw a vision; a certain vessel descending, what seemed to be an enormous sail let down to me,

11:6  and while I gazed at it, I examined it carefully, and saw the quadrupeds of the earth and the wild beasts and creeping things and the wild birds.

11:7  I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat.’

11:8  "‘Not so, my Lord’ said I, ‘for nothing common or unclean has ever gone into my mouth.’

11:9  "But for the second time a voice spoke from the sky, ‘What God has cleansed, you must not call common.’

11:10  "This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.

11:11  "And lo! at that very moment, three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was.

11:12  "And the Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving. There also accompanied me these six brothers, and we went into the man’s house.

11:13  "Then he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying. "‘Send to Joppa and fetch Simon who is also called Peter.

11:14  "‘He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.’

11:15  "And," said Peter, "as soon as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as he fell upon us at the beginning.

11:16  "Then I remembered the words of the Lord, how he used to say, "John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’

11:17  "So if God gave them the same gift as he gave to us, when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"

11:18  On hearing this they held their peace and glorified God, saying, "Forsooth then, to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life."

11:19  Then those who had been scattered by the trouble that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; but they preached the word to none except Jews.

11:20  Some of them, however, were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on reaching Antioch, began to tell the Greeks also the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus.

11:21  The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

11:22  When news of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.

11:23  When he arrived, and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord, with full purpose of heart;

11:24  for he was a good man, and full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And a great multitude was added to the Lord.

11:25  Then Barnabas visited Tarsus, to try to find Saul,

11:26  and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church, and taught many people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of "Christians."

11:27  At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

11:28  One of them, who was Agabus, rose up, and being instructed by the Spirit, predicted that a great famine was about to come upon the whole inhabited earth. (It came in the reign of Claudius.)

11:29  So the disciples decided to send relief, every man according to his means, to the brothers in Judea.

11:30  This they did, forwarding their contributions to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.