15. Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us at the beginning.
16. And I remembered the word of the Lord, as he used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17. Therefore if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder God?”
18. When they heard this, they ceased their objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted the repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles.”
19. Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one but Jews.
20. But there were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.
21. The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
22. A report about them came to the attention of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23. When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts,
24. because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people were brought to the Lord.
25. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to look for Saul,
26. and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
27. At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28. One of them, named Agabus, got up and predicted by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world. (This took place during the reign of Claudius.)
29. So the disciples, each in accordance with his financial ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.