Peter Reports That Non-Jewish People Can Belong to the Church

11 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that people who were not Jewish had accepted God’s word. ² However, when Peter went to Jerusalem, the believers who insisted on circumcision began to argue with him. ³ They said, “You went to visit men who were uncircumcised, and you even ate with them.”

⁴ Then Peter began to explain to them point by point what had happened. He said, ⁵ “I was praying in the city of Joppa when I fell into a trance. I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered by its four corners from the sky. The sheet came near me. ⁶ I looked into the sheet very closely and saw tame animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds. ⁷ I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill these animals, and eat them.’

⁸ “But I answered, ‘I can’t do that, Lord! I’ve never put anything impure or unclean ^[a] into my mouth.’

⁹ “A voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Don’t say that the things which God has made clean ^[b] are impure.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back into the sky again.

¹¹ “At that moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent from Caesarea to find me. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without any hesitation. Six believers ⌞from Joppa⌟ went with me, and we visited Cornelius’ home.

¹³ “He told us that he had seen an angel standing in his home. The angel told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man whose name is Simon Peter. ¹⁴ He will give you a message that will save you and everyone in your home.’

¹⁵ “When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came to these people. This was the same thing that happened to us in the beginning. ¹⁶ I remembered that the Lord had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ When they believed, God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So who was I to interfere with God?”

¹⁸ When the others heard this, they had no further objections. They praised God by saying, “Then God has also led people who are not Jewish to turn to him so that they can change the way they think and act and have eternal life.”