Peter and Cornelius

10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of ^(A)what was known as the Italian Cohort, ² a devout man ^(B)who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. ^3 (C)About the ninth hour of the day^{[a] (D)}he saw clearly in a vision ^(E)an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” ⁴ And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms ^(F)have ascended ^(G)as a memorial before God. ⁵ And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is lodging ^(H)with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, ⁸ and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter's Vision

⁹ The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, ^(I)Peter went up ^(J)on the housetop about ^(K)the sixth hour^[b] to pray. ¹⁰ And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into ^(L)a trance ¹¹ and saw ^(M)the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. ¹² In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³ And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; ^(N)for I have never eaten anything that is ^(O)common or ^(P)unclean.” ¹⁵ And the voice came to him again a second time, ^(Q)“What God has made clean, do not call common.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what ^(R)the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, ^(S)the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate

²² And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and ^(A)God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by ^(B)a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and ^(C)to hear what you have to say.” ²³ So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and ^(D)some of ^(E)the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^(F)fell down at his feet and ^(G)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(H)“Stand up; I too am a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^(I)to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^(J)God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^(A)God ^(B)shows no partiality, ³⁵ but ^(C)in every nation anyone who fears him and ^(D)does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for ^(E)the word that he sent to Israel, ^(F)preaching good news of ^(G)peace through Jesus Christ (^(H)he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^(I)beginning ^(J)from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how ^(K)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^(L)with the Holy Spirit and with ^(M)power. He went about doing good and healing all ^(N)who were oppressed by the devil, ^(O)for God was with him. ³⁹ And ^(P)we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^(Q)They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but ^(R)God raised him on ^(S)the third day and made him to ^(T)appear, ^41 (U)not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^(V)witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(W)he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^(X)that he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^(Y)of the living and the dead. ^43 (Z)To him ^(AA)all the prophets bear witness that ^(AB)everyone who believes in him receives ^(AC)forgiveness of sins ^(AD)through his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, ^(AE)the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And the believers from among ^(AF)the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^(AG)the gift of the Holy Spirit ^(AH)was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(AI)speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ^47 (AJ)“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AK)just as we have?”