Acts 10
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
After a Vision, a Gentile Named Cornelius Sends Men To Joppa To Get Peter
10 Now a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name— a centurion[a] from the cohort[b] being called “Italian[c]”, 2 a devout one, and one fearing God with all his household, doing many acts-of-almsgiving to the [Jewish] people, and praying to God continually— 3 saw in a vision[d] clearly[e], as-if [f] it were around the ninth[g] hour of the day, an angel of God having come-in[h] to him, and having said to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And the one— having looked-intently at him, and having become terrified— said, “What is it, sir[i]?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your acts-of-almsgiving went up for a memorial before God. 5 And now, send men to Joppa, and send-for a certain Simon who is called Peter. 6 This one is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is beside the sea”. 7 And when the angel speaking to him departed, having called two of his household-servants and a devout soldier from the ones attaching-themselves[j] to him, 8 and having described everything to them, he sent them forth to Joppa.
Before They Arrive, Peter Has a Vision To Treat As Clean What God Has Made Clean
9 Now on the next day, while those ones were journeying and drawing-near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop around the sixth[k] hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and was wanting to eat. And while they were preparing it, a trance came upon him. 11 And he sees the heaven having been opened and a certain object like a large sheet coming down, being let down by four corners on the ground— 12 in which were all the four-footed-animals and reptiles of the earth, and birds of the heaven. 13 And a voice came to him, “Having arisen, Peter, slaughter and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, because I never ate anything defiled and unclean”. 15 And a voice again came to him for a second time, “The things which God made-clean[l], don’t you be making-defiled[m]”. 16 And this[n] took place three-times, and immediately the object was taken-up into heaven.
The Spirit Tells Peter He Has Sent Three Men, And He Is To Go With Them
17 Now while Peter was being greatly-perplexed within himself as to what the vision which he saw might mean, behold— the men having been sent-forth by Cornelius, having asked-repeatedly as to the house of Simon, stood at the gate. 18 And having called, they were inquiring, “Is Simon, the one being called Peter, lodging here?” 19 And while Peter was pondering about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold— three men are seeking you. 20 But[o] having arisen, go down and proceed with them not doubting[p] at all, because I have sent them forth”. 21 And Peter, having gone down to the men, said, “Behold— I am the one whom you are seeking. What is the reason for which you are-here?” 22 And the ones said, “Cornelius— a centurion, a righteous man, and one fearing God, and one being attested by the whole nation of the Jews— was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to listen-to words from you”. 23 Then having invited them in, he gave-them-lodging.
Peter Goes To Cornelius. Peter Now Understands That His Vision Pertained To Gentiles
And on the next day, having arisen, he went forth with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. 24 And on the next day, he entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his relatives and close friends. 25 And when Peter’s entering the house came about, Cornelius— having met him, having fallen at his feet— paid-homage. 26 But Peter raised him, saying, “Stand up. I myself also am a man”. 27 And while conversing-with him, he went in and finds many having come-together. 28 And he said to them, “You know how it is unlawful for a Jewish man to be joining[q] or coming-to[r] a foreigner. And-yet God showed me that I should be calling no person defiled or unclean. 29 Therefore, having been sent-for, I indeed came without-objection. So I ask, for what reason did you send-for me?” 30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago at this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth[s] hour, and behold— a man stood before me in shining clothing. 31 And he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer was heard, and your acts-of-almsgiving were remembered before God. 32 Therefore send to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This one is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, beside the sea’. 33 Therefore I sent to you at-once, and you did[t] well, having come. So now we are all here before God to hear all the things having been commanded you by the Lord”.
Peter Begins Proclaiming The Gospel To Cornelius
34 And Peter, having opened his mouth, said, “I understand, in accordance with [God’s] truth, that God is not a respecter-of-persons, 35 but in every nation, the one fearing Him and working righteousness is acceptable[u] to Him. 36 As to the message which He sent-forth to the sons of Israel announcing-the-good-news-of peace through Jesus Christ, this One is Lord of all[v]. 37 You know the matter[w] having taken place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed[x], 38 as to Jesus from Nazareth— how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power; Who went about doing-good and healing all the ones being oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of everything which He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem; Whom indeed they killed, having hung Him on a cross. 40 God raised this One on the third day, and granted that He become visible— 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses having been chosen-beforehand by God; to us, who ate with and drank with Him after He rose-up from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to proclaim to the people, and to solemnly-warn that this One is the One having been designated[y] by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify concerning[z] this One, that everyone believing in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name”.
While Peter Is Speaking, The Spirit Falls On These Gentiles Just Like At Pentecost
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all the ones hearing the message. 45 And the believers of the circumcision— all-who came with Peter— were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured-out also on the Gentiles! 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter responded, 47 “No one is able to forbid[aa] the water so that these may not be baptized, is he?— who received the Holy Spirit as also we did. 48 And he commanded that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.
Footnotes
- Acts 10:1 That is, commander of 100 soldiers.
- Acts 10:1 That is, battalion of Roman soldiers, one tenth of a legion, and thus about 600 soldiers.
- Acts 10:1 This may mean it was made up of native Italians. Cornelius may have volunteered for this duty in order to come to Israel.
- Acts 10:3 Or, sight.
- Acts 10:3 Or, distinctly, plainly.
- Acts 10:3 That is, as if it were broad daylight inside his house. Some manuscripts simply say ‘about’.
- Acts 10:3 That is, 3 p.m.
- Acts 10:3 That is, come into his house.
- Acts 10:4 Or, lord, as in Rev 7:14.
- Acts 10:7 Or, devoting-themselves to him. That is, not ones merely ‘attached to’ his regiment, but ones attaching-themselves to him personally; friends; fellow God-fearers.
- Acts 10:9 That is, noon.
- Acts 10:15 Or, declared-clean, treated-as-clean.
- Acts 10:15 Or, declaring-defiled, treating-as-defiled. Note the change in tense.
- Acts 10:16 That is, this conversation.
- Acts 10:20 That is, in contrast to what your conscience will tell you.
- Acts 10:20 Or, hesitating, wavering.
- Acts 10:28 Or, associating with, keeping-company with.
- Acts 10:28 That is, coming to his home.
- Acts 10:30 That is, at my 3 o’clock prayers.
- Acts 10:33 Or, acted commendably.
- Acts 10:35 Or, welcome. That is, even non-Jews fearing and obeying the true God are welcome to Him. They do not have to become Jews first, a revolutionary idea to Peter.
- Acts 10:36 That is, Jews and Gentiles.
- Acts 10:37 Or, thing.
- Acts 10:37 Or, proclaimed: how God anointed Him— Jesus from Nazareth— with.
- Acts 10:42 Or, ordained, appointed.
- Acts 10:43 Or, to this.
- Acts 10:47 Or, withhold.
Acts 10
EasyEnglish Bible
Cornelius asks Peter to come to him
10 There was a man who lived in Caesarea and his name was Cornelius. He was an officer in the Roman army. His group of soldiers was called ‘The Group from Italy’. 2 Cornelius was a good man. He and all his family served God faithfully. Cornelius prayed to God every day. He also gave money to help poor Jewish people.[a]
3 One afternoon, at about three o'clock, Cornelius had a vision.[b] He clearly saw one of God's angels. The angel came in and said to him, ‘Cornelius!’
4 Cornelius looked at the angel and he was afraid. He asked, ‘Master, why have you come to me?’
The angel answered, ‘God has heard your prayers. He knows about all the money that you give to poor people. This has pleased him. Now God is answering your prayers. 5 You must send some men to Joppa. They will find a man who is staying there. He is called Simon Peter. Your men must tell him to come here to Caesarea. 6 He is staying at the house of Simon the tanner.[c] His house is near the sea.’
7 Then the angel who spoke to Cornelius went away. Cornelius told two of his servants and a soldier of his group to come to him. The soldier was one of those who served Cornelius. He was a good man who obeyed God. 8 Cornelius explained to these three men what the angel had said to him. Then he sent them to Joppa.[d]
9 The next day, at about noon, Cornelius's men were coming near to Joppa. At this time, Peter went up on the roof of the house to pray to God.[e] 10 He became hungry and he wanted to eat some food. While someone was preparing a meal for him, Peter had a special dream. 11 In a vision, he saw heaven open above him. Then he saw something like a large piece of cloth. Somebody held it at each of its four corners and let it come down to the ground. 12 Inside the cloth there were many different kinds of animals with four legs. There were also wild birds and snakes. 13 Then Peter heard a voice that said to him, ‘Peter, stand up and kill some of these animals. Then you can cook them and eat the meat.’
14 Peter answered, ‘No, Lord, I would certainly not do that. I have never eaten an animal that our Law says is unclean.’[f]
15 Then, for the second time, the voice said to Peter, ‘God has made these animals good for people to eat. So you must not say that it is not right to eat them.’
16 All this happened three times. After that, the cloth immediately went back up into heaven.
17 Just then, Cornelius's men arrived there in Joppa. They found Simon's house. When they stopped at the gate of the house, Peter was still thinking about his dream and what it meant. 18 The men shouted out, ‘Is a man called Simon Peter staying here?’
19 While Peter was still thinking about his dream, the Holy Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men have arrived and they are looking for you. 20 Get up and go downstairs to meet them. I have sent these men to come to you. So you should go with them. Do not be afraid.’
21 Peter went downstairs and he said to the men, ‘I am the person that you are looking for. Why have you come here?’
22 The men answered him, ‘The Roman officer who is called Cornelius has sent us to you. He is a good man and he obeys God's Law. All the Jewish people respect him. An angel from God told him to send us to you with a message. Then we should bring you to Cornelius's house so that he could hear what you have to say.’ 23 Then Peter said to the men, ‘Please come into the house and stay here with us tonight.’
Peter at Cornelius's house
The next day, Peter left Joppa to go to Caesarea with Cornelius's men. Some believers who lived in Joppa travelled with them. 24 The next day, Peter arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was ready to meet Peter and the other men. He told his family and his special friends to come to his house. They were all waiting to meet Peter. 25 When Peter arrived at the house, Cornelius went out to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Peter to worship him. 26 But Peter lifted Cornelius up from the ground and he said to him, ‘Stand up. I am only a man, like you are.’
27 Peter continued to talk to Cornelius and they went into the house. Peter saw that many people had come together there in the house. 28 He said to them, ‘You all know that we Jews do not become friends with Gentiles. Our Jewish laws do not let us visit the homes of Gentiles. But God has now shown me something different. I should not say about anyone that God will not accept them.[g] 29 So when you asked me to come here, I was happy to come. I knew that it was right. So tell me now. Why did you ask me to come?’
30 Then Cornelius said, ‘Three days ago, I was in my house at this time of the day. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and I was praying to God. Suddenly, a man appeared and he stood in front of me. He was wearing bright clothes that shone. 31 The man said to me, “Cornelius, you have prayed to God and you have often given money to poor people. Now God wants to answer you. 32 So send some men to Joppa to fetch a man who is called Simon Peter. He is staying there at the house of Simon the tanner. His house is near the sea.” 33 So I sent some men immediately to bring you here. Thank you that you agreed to come. Now we are all here together, and God is with us. We are ready to listen to your message. Please tell us everything that the Lord God has told you to say.’
Peter speaks to Cornelius and to his family and friends
34 Then Peter said to them, ‘Now I understand that God accepts all people in the same way. God has shown me that this is true. 35 God accepts all people who worship him and who do the right things. It is not important to God which nation a person belongs to. 36 This is the message that God has sent to the people of Israel. He told us the good news about Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all people. Because of Jesus, we can now come near to God again. 37 You know about the important things that have happened everywhere in Judea. These things began in Galilee after John spoke God's message to the people. He baptized those people who believed in God. 38 You know that God chose Jesus to do special work for him. He gave Jesus his Holy Spirit and helped him to do powerful things. Jesus came from the town of Nazareth. He travelled to many places and he did good things. The Devil had power over some people. But Jesus caused all those people to become well again. He could do those powerful things because God was with him.
39 We saw everything that Jesus did in Jerusalem and in all Judea. The leaders in Jerusalem fixed Jesus to a cross and they killed him. 40 But then, three days after that, God caused Jesus to become alive again. God caused him to appear to us. 41 Not all the people saw him. God chose us to be Jesus' apostles and we saw him. Now we are telling people about all these things. We ate and we drank with Jesus after he became alive again. 42 At that time, Jesus said to us, “Go and tell people the message about me. Tell them that God has given me authority to judge all people. I will judge those who are now alive. And I will judge those who have died.” ’ 43 Then Peter said, ‘All of God's prophets spoke about Jesus as God's Messiah. They said that God would forgive everyone who believes in him. He would forgive them for their sins because of what Jesus, the Messiah, would do.’
Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all the people who were listening to his message. 45 The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were very surprised. They saw that God had now freely given his Holy Spirit to Gentiles. 46 They heard the new believers speaking in strange languages. They were also praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 ‘God has clearly given his Holy Spirit to these people, in the same way that he gave him to us. So we should now baptize them with water. You surely agree that this is the right thing to do.’ 48 So Peter told the Jewish believers to baptize the new believers. They spoke the name of Jesus Christ when they baptized them. After that, Cornelius asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Footnotes
- 10:2 Cornelius was a not a Jew. But he believed in God and he obeyed the Law of Moses. His family and all his servants also obeyed God.
- 10:3 Three o'clock in the afternoon was a time when the Jews prayed to God. Cornelius was praying when he saw the angel in his dream.
- 10:6 A ‘tanner’ is someone who works with animal skins to make leather.
- 10:8 Joppa was about 50 kilometres from Caesarea.
- 10:9 In those days, in Israel, all the houses had flat roofs. People sat up there after they had finished working. It was quiet there.
- 10:14 We can read about these laws in Leviticus 11. The animals inside the cloth included animals that these laws would not allow a Jew to eat.
- 10:28 Peter now understood more about his own dream. He knew that God was teaching him something. The dream was a message from God about all people. All people can be believers. People can be either Jews or Gentiles. God will accept everyone.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
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