Peter’s Explanation to the Church in Jerusalem
1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had accepted the word of God.
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So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision took issue with him,
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saying, "You went to men {who were uncircumcised} and ate with them!"
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But Peter began [and] explained [it] to them in an orderly sequence, saying,
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"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision--an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me.
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[As I] looked intently into it, I was considering [it], and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild animals and the reptiles and the birds of the sky.
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And I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!'
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But I said, 'Certainly not, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my mouth!'
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But the voice replied from heaven for the second time, '[The things] which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!'
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And this happened three times, and everything was pulled up into heaven again.
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And behold, at once three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea approached the house in which we were [staying].
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And the Spirit told me to accompany them, not hesitating [at all]. So these six brothers also went with me, and we entered into the man's house.
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And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter,
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who will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.'
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And [as] I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us at the beginning.
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And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
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Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us [when we] believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I [to be] able to hinder God?"
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And [when they] heard these [things], they became silent and praised God, saying, "Then God has granted the repentance [leading] to life to the Gentiles also!"