One Story That Leads to Jesus, Day 284
11Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.G1161G652G2532G80G5607G2596G2449G191G3754G1484G1209G2532G1209G3056G2316 2But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.G2532G3753G4074G305G1519G2414G1537G4061G1252G4314G846 3"You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said.G3004G3754G1525G4314G435G203G2192G2532G4906G846 4Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.G1161G4074G756G1620G2517G846G3004 5"I was in the town of Joppa," he said, "and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.G1473G2252G1722G4172G2445G4336G2532G1722G1611G1492G3705G5100G4632G2597G5613G3173G3607G2524G1537G3772G5064G746G2532G2064G891G1700 6When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of small animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds.G1519G3739G816G2657G2532G1492G5074G1093G2532G2342G2532G2062G2532G4071G3772 7And I heard a voice say, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.'G1161G191G5456G3004G3427G450G4074G2380G2532G5315 8"'No, Lord,' I replied. 'I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.'G1161G2036G3365G2962G3754G3956G2839G2228G169G1525G3763G1525G1519G3450G4750 9"But the voice from heaven spoke again: 'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.'G1161G5456G611G3427G1537G1208G1537G3772G3739G2316G2511G2840G3361G4771G2840 10This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.G1161G5124G1096G1909G5151G2532G537G385G3825G1519G3772 11"Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.G2532G2400G1824G2186G5140G435G1824G2186G1909G3614G1722G3739G3739G2252G649G575G2542G4314G3165 12The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.G1161G4151G2036G3427G4905G846G3367G1252G1161G2532G3778G1803G80G4862G2064G1698G2532G1525G1519G435G3624 13He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, 'Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.G5037G518G2254G4459G1492G32G1722G846G3624G2476G2532G2036G846G649G435G1519G2445G2532G3343G4613G1941G4074 14He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!'G3739G2980G4314G4571G4487G1722G3739G4771G2532G3956G4675G3624G4982 15"As I began to speak," Peter continued, "the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.G1161G1722G3165G756G2980G40G4151G1968G1909G846G5618G2532G1909G2248G1722G746 16Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'G1161G3415G4487G2962G5613G3004G2491G3303G907G5204G1161G5210G907G1722G40G4151 17And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way?"G1487G3767G5613G2316G1325G846G2470G1431G2532G2254G4100G1909G2962G2424G5547G1161G5101G2252G1473G1415G2967G2316 18When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, "We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life."G1161G191G5023G2270G2532G1392G2316G3004G686G1325G2316G2534G1484G1325G3341G1519G2222 19Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews.G3767G3303G1289G575G2347G1096G1909G4736G1330G2193G5403G2532G2954G2532G490G2980G3056G3367G1508G2453G3440 20However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.G1161G5100G1537G846G2258G435G2953G2532G2956G3748G1525G1519G490G2980G4314G1675G2097G2962G2424 21The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.G2532G5495G2962G2258G3326G846G5037G4183G706G4100G1994G1909G2962 22When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.G1161G3056G4012G846G191G1519G3775G1577G3588G1722G2414G2532G1821G921G1330G2193G490 23When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.G3739G3854G2532G1492G5485G2316G5463G2532G3870G3956G4286G2588G4357G2962 24Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.G3754G2258G18G435G2532G4134G40G4151G2532G4102G2532G2425G3793G4369G2962 25Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.G1161G1831G921G1519G5019G327G4569 26When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)G2532G2147G846G71G846G1519G490G1161G1096G3650G1763G846G4863G1722G1577G2532G1321G2425G3793G5037G3101G5537G5546G4412G1722G490 27During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.G1161G1722G5025G2250G2718G4396G575G2414G1519G490 28One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)G1161G450G1520G1537G846G3686G13G4591G1223G4151G3195G1510G3173G3042G1909G3650G3625G3748G2532G1096G1909G2804G2541 29So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.G1161G3101G1538G846G2531G2141G5100G3724G3992G1248G1519G80G2730G1722G2449 30This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.G3739G2532G4160G649G4314G4245G1223G5495G921G2532G4569
12About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church.G1161G2596G1565G2540G2264G935G1911G5495G2559G5100G575G1577 2He had the apostle James killed with a sword.G1161G337G2385G80G2491G3162 3When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.)G2532G1492G3754G2076G701G2453G4369G4815G4074G2532G1161G2258G2250G106 4Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.G3739G2532G4084G5087G1519G5438G3860G5064G5069G4757G5442G846G1014G3326G3957G321G846G321G2992 5But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.G4074G3303G3767G5083G1722G5438G1161G4335G2258G1096G1618G5259G1577G4314G2316G5228G846 6The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate.G1161G3753G2264G3195G4254G846G4254G1565G3571G4074G2258G2837G3342G1417G4757G1210G1417G254G5037G5441G4253G2374G5083G5438 7Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, "Quick! Get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists.G2532G2400G32G2962G2186G2532G5457G2989G1722G3612G1161G3960G4074G4125G1453G846G1453G3004G450G1722G5034G2532G846G254G1601G1537G5495 8Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." And he did. "Now put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered.G5037G32G2036G4314G846G4024G2532G5265G4675G4547G1161G3779G4160G2532G3004G846G4016G2440G4016G4675G2532G190G3427 9So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn't realize it was actually happening.G2532G1831G190G846G2532G1492G3756G3754G2076G227G3588G1096G1223G32G1161G1380G991G3705 10They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.G1161G1330G4413G2532G1208G5438G2064G1909G4603G4439G5342G1519G4172G3748G455G846G844G2532G1831G4281G3391G4505G2532G2112G32G868G575G846 11Peter finally came to his senses. "It's really true!" he said. "The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!"G2532G4074G1096G1722G1438G2036G3568G1492G230G3754G2962G1821G846G32G2532G1807G3165G1537G5495G2264G2532G3956G4329G2992G2453 12When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer.G5037G4894G2064G1909G3614G3137G3384G2491G1941G3138G3757G2425G2258G4867G2532G4336 13He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it.G1161G4074G2925G2374G4440G3814G4334G5219G3686G4498 14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, "Peter is standing at the door!"G2532G1921G4074G5456G455G3756G4440G575G5479G1161G1532G518G4074G2476G4253G4440 15"You're out of your mind!" they said. When she insisted, they decided, "It must be his angel."G1161G2036G4314G846G3105G1161G1340G2192G3779G1161G3004G2076G846G32 16Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.G1161G4074G1961G2925G1161G455G1492G846G2532G1839 17He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. "Tell James and the other brothers what happened," he said. And then he went to another place.G1161G2678G846G5495G4601G1334G846G4459G2962G1806G846G1537G5438G1161G2036G518G5023G2385G2532G80G2532G1831G4198G1519G2087G5117 18At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter.G1161G1096G2250G2258G3756G3641G5017G1722G4757G5101G686G1096G4074 19Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn't be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.G1161G1934G2264G1934G846G2532G2147G3361G350G5441G2753G520G2532G2718G575G2449G1519G2542G1304 20Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod's country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod's personal assistant,G1161G2264G2258G2371G5183G2532G4606G1161G3918G3661G4314G846G2532G3982G986G935G1909G2846G3982G154G1515G1223G846G5561G5142G575G937 21and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them.G1161G5002G2250G2264G1746G937G2066G2523G1909G968G2532G1215G4314G846 22The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, "It's the voice of a god, not of a man!"G1161G1218G2019G5456G2316G2532G3756G444 23Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people's worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.G1161G3916G32G2962G3960G846G473G3739G1325G3756G2316G1391G2532G1096G4662G1634 24Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.G1161G3056G2316G837G2532G4129 25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them.G1161G921G2532G4569G5290G1537G2419G4137G1248G2532G4838G2491G1941G3138
124[A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.] What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat.H7892H4609H1732H3884H3068H3478H559 2What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?H3884H3068H120H6965 3They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.H233H1104H2416H639H2734 4The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.H233H4325H7857H5158H5674H5315 5Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.H233H2121H4325H5674H5315 6Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!H1288H3068H5414H2964H8127 7We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!H5315H4422H6833H6341H3369H6341H7665H4422 8Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.H5828H8034H3068H6213H8064H776
in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.G1161
