Rewards of Obedience

11 “You shall therefore ^(A)love the Lord your God, and always ^(B)keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. ² Know this day ^(C)that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the ^[a]discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, ³ and ^(D)His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; ⁴ and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, ^(E)when He made the water of the ^[b]Red Sea ^[c]engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord ^[d]completely eliminated them; ⁵ and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; ⁶ and ^(F)what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and ^(G)every living thing that ^[e]followed them, among all Israel— ⁷ but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

⁸ “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, ^(H)so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; ⁹ and ^(I)so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their ^[f]descendants, ^(J)a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it ^[g]by your foot like a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But ^(K)the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, ¹² a land for which the Lord your God cares; ^(L)the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it, from the ^[h]beginning even to the end of the year.

²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(A)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 ^[a](B)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “^(C)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(D)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is ^(E)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a ^[b]foreigner; and yet ^(F)God has shown me that I am not to call any person ^[c]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, “^(G)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(H)the ^[d]ninth hour; and behold, ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^[e]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 (K)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(L)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(M)in every nation the one who ^[f](N)fears Him and ^[g]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(O)preaching ^[h](P)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(Q)Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [i]You know of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(S)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[j](T)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(U)God was with Him. ³⁹ We are ^(V)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the ^[k]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on ^[l](W)a cross. ^40 (X)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He ^[m]be revealed, ^41 (Y)not to all the people, but to ^(Z)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(AA)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(AB)ordered us to ^[n]preach to the people, and to ^(AC)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been ^(AD)appointed by God as ^(AE)Judge of the living and the dead. ^43 (AF)All the prophets testify of Him, that through ^(AG)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

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

¹³ “And it shall come about, ^(A)if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, ^(B)to love the Lord your God and to serve Him ^(C)with all your heart and all your soul, ¹⁴ that ^[a](D)He will provide rain for your land in its season, the ^[b](E)early and ^[c]late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. ^15 [d](F)He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and ^(G)you will eat and be satisfied. ^16 [e](H)Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them. ¹⁷ Otherwise, ^(I)the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will ^(J)shut up the sky ^(K)so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then ^(L)you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸ “^(M)You shall therefore take these words of mine to ^[f]heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your ^[g]hand, and they shall be as ^[h]frontlets ^[i]on your forehead. ^19 (N)You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. ^20 (O)And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that ^(P)your days and the days of your sons may be increased on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as ^[j](Q)long as the heavens are above the earth. ²² For if you are ^(R)careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, ^(S)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and ^(T)cling to Him, ²³ then the Lord will ^[k](U)dispossess all these nations from you, and you will ^[l](V)dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. ^24 (W)Every place on which the sole of your foot steps shall be yours; ^(X)your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as ^[m]the western sea. ^25 (Y)No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will ^[n]instill the dread of you and the fear of you in all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.

²⁶ “^(Z)See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: ²⁷ the ^(AA)blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; ²⁸ and the ^(AB)curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, ^[o]by following other gods which you have not known.

²⁹ “And it shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, ^(AC)that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰ Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite ^(AD)Gilgal, beside ^(AE)the ^[p]oaks of Moreh? ³¹ For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ^(AF)you shall possess it and live in it, ³² and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am placing before you today.

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.”