Parallel Bible results for "acts 11"

Acts 11

The Message Bible MSG

1 The news traveled fast and in no time the leaders and friends back in Jerusalem heard about it - heard that the non-Jewish "outsiders" were now "in."

2 When Peter got back to Jerusalem, some of his old associates, concerned about circumcision, called him on the carpet:

3 "What do you think you're doing rubbing shoulders with that crowd, eating what is prohibited and ruining our good name?"

4 So Peter, starting from the beginning, laid it out for them step-by-step:

5 "Recently I was in the town of Joppa praying. I fell into a trance and saw a vision: Something like a huge blanket, lowered by ropes at its four corners, came down out of heaven and settled on the ground in front of me.

6 Milling around on the blanket were farm animals, wild animals, reptiles, birds - you name it, it was there. Fascinated, I took it all in.

7 "Then I heard a voice: 'Go to it, Peter - kill and eat.'

8 I said, 'Oh, no, Master. I've never so much as tasted food that wasn't kosher.'

9 The voice spoke again: 'If God says it's okay, it's okay.'

10 This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the sky.

11 "Just then three men showed up at the house where I was staying, sent from Caesarea to get me.

12 The Spirit told me to go with them, no questions asked. So I went with them, I and six friends, to the man who had sent for me.

13 He told us how he had seen an angel right in his own house, real as his next-door neighbor, saying, 'Send to Joppa and get Simon, the one they call Peter.

14 He'll tell you something that will save your life - in fact, you and everyone you care for.'

15 "So I started in, talking. Before I'd spoken half a dozen sentences, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us the first time.

16 I remembered Jesus' words: 'John baptized with water; you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'

17 So I ask you: If God gave the same exact gift to them as to us when we believed in the Master Jesus Christ, how could I object to God?"

18 Hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. "It's really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!"

19 Those who had been scattered by the persecution triggered by Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they were still only speaking and dealing with their fellow Jews.

20 Then some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had come to Antioch started talking to Greeks, giving them the Message of the Master Jesus.

21 God was pleased with what they were doing and put his stamp of approval on it - quite a number of the Greeks believed and turned to the Master.

22 When the church in Jerusalem got wind of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on things.

23 As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives.

24 He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit's ways. The community grew large and strong in the Master.

25 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.

26 He found him and brought him back to Antioch. They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.

27 It was about this same time that some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem.

28 One of them named Agabus stood up one day and, prompted by the Spirit, warned that a severe famine was about to devastate the country. (The famine eventually came during the rule of Claudius.)

29 So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out.

30 They sent Barnabas and Saul to deliver the collection to the leaders in Jerusalem.

New Living Translation NLT

1 Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.

2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.

3 “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.

4 Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.

5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.

6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds.

7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’

8 “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. ’

9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’

10 This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.

11 “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.

12 The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.

13 He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.

14 He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’

15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.

16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

18 When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

19 Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews.

20 However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.

21 The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.

22 When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

23 When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.

24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.

26 When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

27 During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)

29 So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.

30 This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.