Acts:11-12

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* Now the apostles and the brothers that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God ; * so , when Peter came up to Jerusalem , the circumcision party disputed with him , * saying , "You went into the houses of the uncircumcised and ate with them !" * Then Peter began and explained the whole matter to them in order , saying . * "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 , * 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 . * I also heard a voice saying to me , Rise , Peter , kill and eat . * "Not so , my Lord said I , for nothing common or unclean has ever gone into my mouth . * "But for the second time a voice spoke from the sky , What God has cleansed , you must not call common . * "This was said three times , and then everything was drawn up again into the sky . * "And lo ! at that very moment , three men who had been sent for me from Caesarea stood before the house in which I was . * "And the Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving . There also accompanied me these six brothers , and we went into the mans house . * "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 . * "He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved . * "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 . * "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 . * "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 ?" * On hearing this they held their peace and glorified God , saying , "Forsooth then , to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life ." * 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 . * 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 . * The hand of the Lord was with them , and a great number who believed turned to the Lord . * When news of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem , they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch . * 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 ; * for he was a good man , and full of faith and the Holy Spirit . And a great multitude was added to the Lord . * Then Barnabas visited Tarsus , to try to find Saul , * 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 ." * At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch . * 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 .) * So the disciples decided to send relief , every man according to his means , to the brothers in Judea . * This they did , forwarding their contributions to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul . * Now , at about that time , Herod the king put forth his hands to ill - treat certain members of the church ; * and beheaded James , the brother of John , with the sword . * And when he saw that it pleased the Jews , he proceeded to seize Peter also . (This was during the days of unleavened bread .) * He had him arrested and thrown in prison , and put under guard of sixteen soldiers . He intended , after the Passover , to bring him forth to the people . * So Peter was kept in prison , but earnest prayer to God was made by the church for him . * Now when Herod was about to bring him forth , on that very night , while Peter was sleeping between two soldiers , bound with chains , and sentries before the door were guarding the prison , * suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him , and a light shone in the cell . Striking Peter on the side , he woke him saying , "Rise up quickly ." At once the chains dropped from his hands . * "Gird yourself ," said the angel , "and put on your sandals ." He did so . Then he said unto him , "Throw your cloak about you , and follow me ." * So Peter went out , following him , but did not realize that what the angel was doing was real , but supposed that he was seeing a vision . * And when they had passed the first guard and the second , they came to the iron gate that led to the city . This opened to them of its own accord ; and they went out passed on through one street ; and suddenly the angel left him . * Peter , coming to himself , said , "Now I know for a certainty that the Lord has sent his angel and released me from the hand of Herod , and from all that the Jewish people were anticipating ." * So , after he had thought things over , he went to the house of Mary , the mother of John , surnamed Mark , where a large number of people were assembled , praying . * When he knocked at the door of the gate , a maid servant named Rhoda came to answer . * And when she recognized Peters voice , for very joy she did not open the door , but ran in and told them that Peter was standing in front of the gate . * "You are mad ," they said . But she confidently insisted that it was so . "It is his angel ," they said . * Meanwhile Peter continued to knock , until at last they opened the door , and were amazed to see that it was really he . * He motioned to them to keep quiet , and told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison . "Tell all this to James ," he said , "and to the brothers ," and away he went to another place . * When morning came there was no small stir among the soldiers as to what could possibly have become of Peter . * Then Herod had search made for him , and could not find him . After sharply questioning the guards , he ordered them off to execution . He then went down from Judea to Caesarea , where he stayed for some time . * Now Herod was violently displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon . So they came to him , with one accord , and after conciliating Blastus , the royal chamberlain , they begged for peace because their country depended upon the kings country for its food supply . * So on the appointed day , Herod put on his royal robes , and after taking his seat upon the throne , began to harangue them . * "The voice of a god , and not of a man ," the people kept shouting . * Instantly an angel of the Lord smote him , because he had not given God the glory , and being eaten up by worms , he died . * But the word of God grew and multiplied ; * and after discharging their mission , Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem , bringing with them John , surnamed Mark . * Now there were in the church in Antioch prophets and teachers ; Barnabas and Symeon , surnamed "the Black ," Lucius of Cyrene , Manaen , the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch , and Saul .

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