The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (136 page)

The next day he rose and went off with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
²⁴
And on the following day they entered Caesare'a. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his kinsmen and close friends.
²⁵
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
²⁶
But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up;
I too am a man
."
²⁷
And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered;
²⁸
and he said to them, "You yourselves know how
unlawful
it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
²⁹
So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me."

30
 And Cornelius said, "Four days ago, about this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel,
³¹
saying, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
³²
Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the seaside.'
³³
So I sent to you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Gentiles Hear the Good News

34
 And
Peter opened his mouth
and said: "Truly I perceive that God shows
no partiality
,
³⁵
but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
³⁶
You know the word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
³⁷
the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:
³⁸
how
God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
³⁹
And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;
⁴⁰
but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest;
⁴¹
not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
⁴²
And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
⁴³
To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name
."

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

44
 While Peter was still saying this,
the Holy Spirit fell
on all who heard the word.
⁴⁵
And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
⁴⁶
For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,
⁴⁷
"Can any one forbid water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
⁴⁸
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Peter's Report to the Churchat Jerusalem

11
 
Now the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
²
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem,
the circumcision party
criticized him,
³
saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"
⁴
But Peter began and explained to them in order:
⁵
"I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending, like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down to me.
⁶
Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.
⁷
And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'
⁸
But I said, 'No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
⁹
But the voice answered a second time from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.'
¹⁰
This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.
¹¹
At that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesare'a.
¹²
And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brethren also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.
¹³
And he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter;
¹⁴
he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.'
¹⁵
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
¹⁶
And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
¹⁷
If then God gave
the same gift
to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"
¹⁸
When they heard this they were silenced. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted
repentance unto life
."

The Church in Antioch

19
 Now
those who were scattered
because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as
Phoeni'cia and Cyprus and Antioch
, speaking the word to none except Jews.
²⁰
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and
Cyre'ne
, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks
ⁱ
also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
²¹
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord.
²²
News of this came to the ears of the Church in
Jerusalem
, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
²³
When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose;
²⁴
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord.
²⁵
So Barnabas went to Tarsus to
look for Saul
;
²⁶
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with
^j
the Church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called
Christians
.

27
 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
²⁸
And one of them named
Ag'abus
stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius.
²⁹
And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send
relief to the brethren
who lived in Judea;
³⁰
and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned by Herod

12
  
About
that time
Herod the king
laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. 
*
²
He killed
James
the brother of John with the sword;
³
and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of
Unleavened Bread
.
⁴
And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to
four squads
of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.
⁵
So Peter was kept in prison;
but earnest prayer
for him was made to God by the Church.

An Angel Rescues Peter from Prison

6
 The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
bound with two chains
, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison;
⁷
and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his hands.
⁸
And the angel said to him, "Dress yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me."
⁹
And he went out and followed him; he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
¹⁰
When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him.
¹¹
And Peter came to himself, and said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."

12
 When he realized this, he went to
the house of Mary
, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
¹³
And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.
¹⁴
Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and told that Peter was standing at the gate.
¹⁵
They said to her, "You are mad." But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is
his angel
!"
¹⁶
But Peter continued knocking; and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.
¹⁷
But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell this to
James
and to the brethren." Then he departed and went to another place.

18
 Now when day came, there was no small stir among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
¹⁹
And when Herod had sought for him and could not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be
put to death
. Then he went down from Judea to Caesare'a, and remained there.

The Death of Herod

20
 Now Herod was angry with the people of
Tyre and Si'don
; and they came to him in a body, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.
²¹
On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and made an oration to them.
²²
And the people shouted, "The voice of a god, and not of man!"
²³
Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was
eaten by worms
and died.

24
 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25
 And Barnabas and Saul returned from
^k
Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, bringing with them John whose other name was Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Commissioned

13
  
Now in the Church at Antioch there were
prophets and teachers
, Barnabas, Symeon who was called Ni'ger, Lucius of Cyre'ne, Man'a-en a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
²
While they were
worshiping
the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
³
Then after
fasting and praying
they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

4
 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit,
they went down to Seleu'cia
; and from there they
sailed to Cyprus
.
⁵
When they arrived at Sal'amis, they proclaimed the word of God in
the synagogues
of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.
⁶
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Pa'phos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus.
⁷
He was with the proconsul,
Sergius Paulus
, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
⁸
But
El'ymas
the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith.
⁹
But Saul, who is
also called Paul
, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
¹⁰
and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
¹¹
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and
you shall be blind
and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.
¹²
Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.