⁹ And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(A)Peter went up on ^(B)the housetop about ^(C)the ^[a]sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^(D)fell into a trance ¹¹ and *saw ^(E)heaven opened up, and ^[b]an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ^[c]sky. ¹³ And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ^[d]slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(F)Lord, for ^(G)I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(H)What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” ¹⁶ And this happened three times and immediately the ^[e]object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[f]mind as to what ^(I)the vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^(J)the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹ And while Peter was reflecting on ^(K)the vision, ^(L)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[g]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But rise up, go down and ^(M)accompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ And 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 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(N)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(O)was directed by a ^(P)holy angel to summon you to his house and hear ^[h](Q)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter at Caesarea

And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^(R)some of ^(S)the brothers from ^(T)Joppa went with him. ²⁴ And on the following day he entered ^(U)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[i](V)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter raised him up, saying, “^(W)Stand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(X)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^(Y)unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^(Z)God has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, “^(AA)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(AB)the ^[j]ninth hour; and behold, ^(AC)a man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ^[k]alms have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send to ^(AD)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’

⁵ “^(A)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(B)a vision, ^[a]an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶ and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ^[b]sky. ⁷ And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ^[c]slaughter and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(C)What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰ And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^(D)Caesarea. ^12 (E)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^[d](F)without taking issue at all. ^(G)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 ^[e]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(H)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(I)all your household.’