Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’
Parallel translations
- WEB I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat!’
- KJV And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
- NKJV And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’
- NASB I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
- NLT And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Peter heard a voice commanding him to rise, kill, and eat. God directly bid him do what the law had forbidden.
Overview
The command to eat unclean animals signaled a decisive change in how God's people relate to the old boundary markers. Peter retells it to show that the initiative came from God, not himself. The voice from heaven carries the authority that reshapes the church's mission to the Gentiles.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 11:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.