17. If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”
18. When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
19. Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews.
20. There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however, who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the Lord Jesus.
21. The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
22. The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas [to go] to Antioch.
23. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
24. for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people was added to the Lord.
25. Then he 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 the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
27. At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,
28. and one of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world, and it happened under Claudius.
29. So the disciples determined that, according to ability, each should send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea.