17. God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I have gone against God?
18. When they heard Peter say this, they stopped arguing and started praising God. They said, “God has now let Gentiles turn to him, and he has given life to them!”
19. Some of the Lord's followers had been scattered because of the terrible trouble that started when Stephen was killed. They went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they told the message only to the Jews.
20. Some of the followers from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and started telling Gentiles the good news about the Lord Jesus.
21. The Lord's power was with them, and many people turned to the Lord and put their faith in him.
22. News of what was happening reached the church in Jerusalem. Then they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23. When Barnabas got there and saw what God had been kind enough to do for them, he was very glad. So he begged them to remain faithful to the Lord with all their hearts.
24. Barnabas was a good man of great faith, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Many more people turned to the Lord.
25. Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.
26. He found Saul and brought him to Antioch, where they met with the church for a whole year and taught many of its people. There in Antioch the Lord's followers were first called Christians.
27. During this time some prophets from Jerusalem came to Antioch.
28. One of them was Agabus. Then with the help of the Spirit, he told that there would be a terrible famine everywhere in the world. And it happened when Claudius was Emperor.