# Acts 11.1-18

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-26 | updated: 2026-06-26 -->

**Book:** [Acts](/codex/acts/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> **"1. Now the apostles and the brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3. saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 4. But Peter began, and expounded the matter unto them in order, saying, 5. I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even unto me: 6. upon which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw the fourfooted beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the heaven. 7. And I heard also a voice saying unto me, <span class="rl-speech">Rise, Peter; kill and eat.</span> 8. But I said, <span class="rl-speech">Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth.</span> 9. But a voice answered the second time out of heaven, <span class="rl-speech">What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.</span> 10. And this was done thrice: and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11. And behold, forthwith three men stood before the house in which we were, having been sent from Caesarea unto me. 12. And the Spirit bade me go with them, making no distinction. And these six brethren also accompanied me; and we entered into 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 fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14. who shall speak unto thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house. 15. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. 16. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. 17. If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God? 18. And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life."**
>
> "19. They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews. 20. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus." (Acts 11:1-20, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> **"1. Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2. When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him, 3. saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!” 4. But Peter began, and explained to them in order, saying, 5. “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: a certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners. It came as far as me. 6. When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky. 7. I also heard a voice saying to me, <span class="rl-speech">‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat!’</span> 8. But I said, <span class="rl-speech">‘Not so, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered into my mouth.’</span> 9. But a voice answered me the second time out of heaven, <span class="rl-speech">‘What God has cleansed, don’</span>t you call unclean.’ 10. This was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11. Behold, immediately three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me. 12. The Spirit told me to go with them, without discriminating. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house. 13. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying to him, ‘Send to Joppa, and get Simon, who is called Peter, 14. who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house.’ 15. As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. 16. I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ 17. If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?” 18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”"**
>
> "19. They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only. 20. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus." (Acts 11:1-20, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> **"1. And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3. Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 4. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 5. I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: 6. Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 7. And I heard a voice saying unto me, <span class="rl-speech">Arise, Peter; slay and eat.</span> 8. But I said, <span class="rl-speech">Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.</span> 9. But the voice answered me again from heaven, <span class="rl-speech">What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.</span> 10. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11. And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: 13. And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14. Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."**
>
> "19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus." (Acts 11:1-20, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> **"1. And the apostles and the brethren who are in Judea heard that also the nations did receive the word of God, 2. and when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision were contending with him, 3. saying, 'Unto men uncircumcised thou didst go in, and didst eat with them!' 4. And Peter having begun, did expound to them in order saying, 5. 'I was in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw in a trance a vision, a certain vessel coming down, as a great sheet by four corners being let down out of the heaven, and it came unto me; 6. at which having looked stedfastly, I was considering, and I saw the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of heaven; 7. and I heard a voice saying to me, <span class="rl-speech">Having risen, Peter, slay and eat;</span> 8. and I said, <span class="rl-speech">Not so, Lord; because anything common or unclean hath at no time entered into my mouth;</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">and a voice did answer me a second time out of the heaven, What God did cleanse, thou, declare not thou common.</span> 10. 'And this happened thrice, and again was all drawn up to the heaven, 11. and, lo, immediately, three men stood at the house in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea unto me, 12. and the Spirit said to me to go with them, nothing doubting, and these six brethren also went with me, and we did enter into the house of the man, 13. he declared also to us how he saw the messenger in his house standing, and saying to him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter, 14. who shall speak sayings by which thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house. 15. 'And in my beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit did fall upon them, even as also upon us in the beginning, 16. and I remembered the saying of the Lord, how he said, John indeed did baptize with water, and ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit; 17. if then the equal gift God did give to them as also to us, having believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, I, how was I able to withstand God?' 18. And they, having heard these things, were silent, and were glorifying God, saying, 'Then, indeed, also to the nations did God give the reformation to life.'"**
>
> "19. Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only; 20. and there were certain of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having entered into Antioch, were speaking unto the Hellenists, proclaiming good news, the Lord Jesus," (Acts 11:1-20, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_


<!-- BACKLINKS:START -->
## Quoted in

- [Mosaic Law Binding for True Israelites Objection Defeater](/codex/mosaic-law-binding-for-true-israelites-objection-defeater/)

<!-- BACKLINKS:END -->
## Notes

_Your annotations._

---

_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.
