Acts 11
1 So the apostles and the brothers being throughout Judea hear that the nations also received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him, 3 saying that: You went in with men having uncircumcision and you ate with them. 4 So having begun Peter was explaining to them point by point saying: 5 I was in the city [of] Joppa praying, and I saw in [a] trance [a] vision, a certain [thing] coming down like [a] great linen sheet with [the] four corners being let down from heaven, and it came until me, 6 to which, having looked intently, I was considering [it], and I saw the four-footed [things] of the earth and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of heaven. 7 Now I also heard [a] voice saying to me: Having arisen, Peter, kill and eat. 8 So I said: By no means, Lord, for [the] common1 or unclean has never entered into my mouth. 9 But [a] voice from heaven answered [a] second [time]: What God has cleansed do not be considering common2. 10 Now this came to pass [a] third [time], and everything was again drawn up into heaven. 11 And behold immediately three men stood outside the house in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me. 12 Now the spirit told me to go with them not having hesitated. So they and these six brothers went with me, and we went into the house of [this] man. 13 So he reported to us how he saw the angel in his house having stood and having said: Send to Joppa and summon Simon the [one] called Peter, 14 who will speak words to you by which you and all your house will be saved. 15 Now when I began to be speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as also upon us in the beginning. 16 Now I was minded of the words of the Lord, as he was saying: John on the one hand baptized in3 water, but you will be baptized in4 Holy Spirit. 17 If therefore God gave to them the equal gift as also to us, to [those] having believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I able to hinder God? 18 So having heard these [things] they were quiet, and glorified God saying: Therefore has God given the repentance to zoe-life5 to the nations6 also.19 Indeed therefore those having been scattered from the distress having come to pass upon Stephen were going through to Phoenicia and Cypris and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 Now there were some Cyprian and Cyrenian men from among them, who having come to Antioch were speaking to the Greeks also, good-newsing the Lord Jesus. 21 And [the] hand of [the] Lord was with them, and [a] great number having believed turned to the Lord. 22 Now the word was heard to the ears of the assembly7 being in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent out Barnabbas until Antioch, 23 who having arrived and having seen the grace of the Lord, he rejoiced, and he was entreating all in the purpose of [their] heart to remain with the Lord, 24 because he was [a] good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And [a] large crowd was added to the Lord. 25 Now he went out to Tarsus to seek Saul, 26 and having found [him] he brought [him] to Antioch. Now it came to pass to them indeed they were [a] whole year gathered in the assembly7 and they taught [a] great crowd, and in Antioch the disciples were first named Christians.
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem. 28 And one of them, by name Agabos, having stood, he foretold through the spirit [that a] great famine was [about] to be upon the whole inhabited world, which came to pass under Claudius. 29 Now from the disciples, just as anyone was having plenty, each of them determined to send for service to the brothers dwelling in Judea, 30 which they also did, having sent [it] to the elders through [the] hand of Barnabbas and Saul.
1or "impure"
2or "impure"
3or "with"
4or "with"
5from ZOE "ZOH-ay" (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected. Although it means 'life' in the conventional sense (for example: Matt.9:18, Matt.27:63, Luke.2:36, Acts.25:24, Rom.7:2, 2Cor.1:8, 1Thes.4:17, 1Tim.5:10, Rev.19:20), Jesus uses ZOE exclusively of 'life eternal' (with the possible exceptions of Luke.15:13, Luke.16:25). The other N.T. writers use ZOE in both senses—temporal and eternal, generally clear from the context. The Father is the 'zoe-living God' (see Matt.16:16). The Septuagint (LXX) in Gen.2:7 has "...[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of zoe-life, and the man became a zoe-living psyche-life" (and see 1Cor.15:45); and Gen.3:20 (LXX) "And Adam called his wife's name ZOE, because she was the mother of all zoe-living." Contrast PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. See John.12:25 where both ZOE and PSYCHE occur. Greek also has the word BIOS (βιoς ) for 'life' in the sense of biological processes.
6i.e. the Gentiles
7EKKLESIA (εκκλησια) from "called out". Appears 114 times in the N.T., but only in two places in the Gospels ( Matt.16:18 (twice) and Matt.18:17 (twice)). It's worth noting that when Jesus uses the term EKKLESIA, Christian community as we know it didn't yet exist—there were only the disciples. EKKLESIA is apparently different from 'synagogue' (SYNAGOGE (συναγωγη) which occurs 56 times in the N.T.) EKKLESIA is used in secular Greek literature of a popular assembly 'called to assemble', and also of those 'called' to a cult. EKKLESIA is used frequently in the N.T. outside of the Gospels to refer to Christian communities, but in Acts.7:38 it is used of the people of Israel led through the desert by Moses, and in Acts.19:32 ff. of a secular assembly. Thus, all told, the common translation of EKKLESIA as 'church' doesn't really reflect 1st century usage—it seems to mean more like 'a group of people assembled for some specific purpose'.