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Acts 11

Darby Translation · 30 verses

1And the apostles and the brethren who were in Judaea heard that the nations also had received the word of God; 2and when Peter went up to Jerusalem, they of the circumcision contended with him, 3saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and hast eaten with them. 4But Peter began and set forth [the matter] to them in order, saying, 5I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in an ecstasy I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending like a great sheet, let down by four corners out of heaven, and it came even to me: 6on which having fixed mine eyes, I considered, and saw the quadrupeds of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the heaven. 7And I heard also a voice saying to me, Rise up, Peter, slay and eat. 8And I said, In no wise, Lord, for common or unclean has never entered into my mouth. 9And a voice answered the second time out of heaven, What God has cleansed, do not thou make common. 10And this took place thrice, and again all was drawn up into heaven; 11and lo, immediately three men were at the house in which I was, sent to me from Caesarea. 12And the Spirit said to me to go with them, nothing doubting. And there went with me these six brethren also, and we entered into the house of the man, 13and he related to us how he had seen the angel in his house, standing and saying [to him], Send [men] to Joppa and fetch Simon, who is surnamed Peter, 14who shall speak words to thee whereby thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house. 15And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them even as upon us also at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptised with water, but ye shall be baptised with [the] Holy Spirit. 17If then God has given them the same gift as also to us when we had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who indeed was I to be able to forbid God? 18And when they heard these things they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then indeed God has to the nations also granted repentance to life. 19They then who had been scattered abroad through the tribulation that took place on the occasion of Stephen, passed through [the country] to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone. 20But there were certain of them, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who entering into Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. 21And [the] Lord's hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. 22And the report concerning them reached the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go through as far as Antioch: 23who, having arrived and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced, and exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord; 24for he was a good man and full of [the] Holy Spirit and of faith; and a large crowd [of people] were added to the Lord. 25And he went away to Tarsus to seek out Saul. 26And having found [him], he brought him to Antioch. And so it was with them that for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught a large crowd: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 27Now in these days prophets went down from Jerusalem to Antioch; 28and one from among them, by name Agabus, rose up and signified by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine over all the inhabited earth, which also came to pass under Claudius. 29And they determined, according as any one of the disciples was well off, each of them to send to the brethren who dwelt in Judaea, to minister [to them]; 30which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Darby's Synopsis

The assembly existed. The doctrine of her oneness, as the body of Christ, outside the world, was not yet made known. The reception of Cornelius did not announce it, although paving its way.

Read Darby's Synopsis on Acts 10–11:18 (to verse 18)

Acts 11:19 begins the narration of the new order of things by which the ministry of Paul is distinguished. Among those who were scattered abroad on the occasion of Stephen's death, and who went as far even as Antioch preaching the Lord Jesus, there were some who, being men of Cyprus and Cyrene, were more habitually connected with Greeks. They addressed the Greeks therefore in this ancient capital of the Seleucidae, and many received their word and turned to the Lord.

Read Darby's Synopsis on Acts 11:19–11:30 (from verse 19)

Study resources for this chapter

Ministry meetings

Assembly ministry

Text: J. N. Darby, The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages, public domain. Emphasized words are Darby's own. Provenance on the sources page.