Acts 11

Read the chapter

¹Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ✦ ²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers took issue with him, ✦ ³saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ✦ ⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying, ✦ ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was, ✦ ⁶and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky. ✦ ⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ✦ ⁹But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’ ✦ ¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. ✦ ¹¹And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying. ✦ ¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ✦ ¹³And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ✦ ¹⁴and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ✦ ¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. ✦ ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ✦ ¹⁷Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” ✦ ¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” ✦ ¹⁹So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ✦ ²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ✦ ²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ✦ ²²The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. ✦ ²³Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ✦ ²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ✦ ²⁵And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; ✦ ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. ✦ ²⁷Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ✦ ²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. ✦ ²⁹And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ✦ ³⁰And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Acts 10 ·25 Acts 15 ·22 Acts 11 ·12 Acts 13 ·11 Acts 9 ·11 Acts 21 ·9 Acts 14 ·8 Acts 4 ·6

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryDrive Thru History: Acts to RevelationDave Stotts · Free · evangelical
Follows Paul's missionary journeys and the early church on location across the Mediterranean — free on Tubi, great for families.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Acts 11YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Acts 11David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Acts 11Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Acts 10 Acts 12 →