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; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on ^(X)the vision, ^(Y)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[n]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and ^(Z)accompany them ^[o]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” 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 ^(AA)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(AB)was divinely directed by a ^(AC)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[p](AD)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 ^(AE)some of ^(AF)the brothers from ^(AG)Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(AH)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[q](AI)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “^(AJ)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(AK)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is ^(AL)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a ^[r]foreigner; and yet ^(AM)God has shown me that I am not to call any person ^[s]unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “^(AN)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(AO)the ^[t]ninth hour; and behold, ^(AP)a man stood before me in shining clothing, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send some men to ^(AQ)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent men to you immediately, and you have ^[u]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34 (AR)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(AS)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(AT)in every nation the one who ^[v](AU)fears Him and ^[w]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(AV)preaching ^[x](AW)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(AX)Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [y]You know of ^(AY)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(AZ)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[z](BA)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(BB)God was with Him. ³⁹ We are ^(BC)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the ^[aa]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on ^[ab](BD)a cross. ^40 (BE)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He ^[ac]be revealed, ^41 (BF)not to all the people, but to ^(BG)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(BH)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(BI)ordered us to ^[ad]preach to the people, and to ^(BJ)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been ^(BK)appointed by God as ^(BL)Judge of the living and the dead. ^43 (BM)All the prophets testify of Him, that through ^(BN)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

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

Peter Reports in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^[a](B)the Jewish believers took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(C)You ^[b]went to ^[c]uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained at length to them ^(D)in an orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(F)a vision, an ^[d]object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was, ⁶ and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the ^[e]crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; ^[f]kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing ^[g]unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(G)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[h]consider unholy.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. ¹¹ And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from ^(H)Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying. ^12 (I)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^(J)without ^[i]misgivings. ^(K)These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^[j]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(L)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(M)all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, ^(N)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(O)as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(P)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[k]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if ^(Q)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(R)who was I that I could ^[l]stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they ^[m]quieted down and ^(S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the ^(T)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (U)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[n]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[o]to ^(V)Phoenicia, ^(W)Cyprus, and ^(X)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(Y)Cyprus and ^(Z)Cyrene, who came to ^(AA)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[p](AB)Greeks as well, ^(AC)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(AD)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(AE)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[q]news about them ^[r]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(AF)Barnabas off ^[s]to ^(AG)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[t]witnessed ^(AH)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[u]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(AI)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^[v](AJ)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(AK)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(AL)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[w]met with the church and taught ^[x]considerable numbers of people; and ^(AM)the disciples were first called ^(AN)Christians in ^(AO)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[y]at this time some ^(AP)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AQ)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named ^(AR)Agabus, stood up and ^[z]indicated ^[aa]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(AS)all over the ^[ab]world. ^[ac]And this took place in the reign of ^(AT)Claudius. ²⁹ And to the extent that any of ^(AU)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[ad]relief of ^(AV)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ^30 (AW)And they did this, sending it ^[ae]with ^(AX)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AY)elders.