Cornelius’ Vision

10 Now there was a man in ^(A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(B)called the Italian ^[a]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(C)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(D)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(E)the ^[b]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(F)in a vision ^(G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And he ^(H)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts ^(I)have ascended ^(J)as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to ^(K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named ^(L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his ^[c]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(M)Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(N)Peter went up on ^(O)the ^[d]housetop about ^[e](P)the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he ^(Q)fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw ^(R)the sky opened up, and an ^[f]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and ^[g]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ^[h]kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(S)Lord, for ^(T)I have never eaten anything ^[i]unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(U)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[j]consider unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the ^[k]object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[l]mind as to what ^(V)the vision which he had seen might ^[m]mean, behold, ^(W)the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate;

²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(A)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(B)was divinely directed by a ^(C)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[a](D)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter in Caesarea

Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and ^(E)some of ^(F)the brothers from ^(G)Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(H)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34 (A)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(B)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(C)in every nation the one who ^[a](D)fears Him and ^[b]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(E)preaching ^[c](F)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(G)Lord of all)—

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(A)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ^[a]message. ^45 (B)All the ^[b]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been ^(C)poured out on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(D)speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “^(E)Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who ^(F)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(G)ordered them to be baptized ^(H)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.