¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(A) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(B) the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.^(C) They have turned away quickly^(D) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people^(E), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone,^(F) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(G) their name from under heaven.^(H) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^{(I) 16} When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.^(J) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell^(K) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(L) because of all the sin you had committed,^(M) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(N) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(O) 20} And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust^(P) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(Q)

²² You also made the Lord angry^(R) at Taberah,^(S) at Massah^(T) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.^(U)

²³ And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,^(V) he said, “Go up and take possession^(W) of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled^(X) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust^(Y) him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.^(Z)

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(AA) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^{(AB) 26} I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(AC) your own inheritance^(AD) that you redeemed^(AE) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(AF) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(AG) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(AH) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(AI) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(AJ) 29} But they are your people,^(AK) your inheritance^(AL) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(AM)”

Aeneas and Dorcas

³² As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people^(A) who lived in Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴ “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you.^(B) Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. ³⁵ All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon^(C) saw him and turned to the Lord.^(D)

³⁶ In Joppa^(E) there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good^(F) and helping the poor. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.^{(G) 38} Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples^(H) heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows^(I) stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room;^(J) then he got down on his knees^(K) and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.”^(L) She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.^{(M) 43} Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.^(N)

Tablets Like the First Ones

10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets^(A) like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.^{[a] 2} I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”^(B)

³ So I made the ark out of acacia wood^(C) and chiseled^(D) out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. ⁴ The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments^(E) he had proclaimed^(F) to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(G) And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I came back down the mountain^(H) and put the tablets in the ark^(I) I had made,^(J) as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.^(K)

⁶ (The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah.^(L) There Aaron died^(M) and was buried, and Eleazar^(N) his son succeeded him as priest.^{(O) 7} From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.^{(P) 8} At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi^(Q) to carry the ark of the covenant^(R) of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister^(S) and to pronounce blessings^(T) in his name, as they still do today.^{(U) 9} That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,^(V) as the Lord your God told them.)

¹⁰ Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.^{(W) 11} “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

Fear the Lord

¹² And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you^(X) but to fear^(Y) the Lord your God, to walk^(Z) in obedience to him, to love him,^(AA) to serve the Lord^(AB) your God with all your heart^(AC) and with all your soul,^{(AD) 13} and to observe the Lord’s commands^(AE) and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?^(AF)

¹⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens,^(AG) even the highest heavens,^(AH) the earth and everything in it.^{(AI) 15} Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved^(AJ) them, and he chose you,^(AK) their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.^{(AL) 16} Circumcise^(AM) your hearts,^(AN) therefore, and do not be stiff-necked^(AO) any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods^(AP) and Lord of lords,^(AQ) the great God, mighty and awesome,^(AR) who shows no partiality^(AS) and accepts no bribes.^{(AT) 18} He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,^(AU) and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.^{(AV) 19} And you are to love^(AW) those who are foreigners,^(AX) for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.^{(AY) 20} Fear the Lord your God and serve him.^(AZ) Hold fast^(BA) to him and take your oaths in his name.^{(BB) 21} He is the one you praise;^(BC) he is your God, who performed for you those great^(BD) and awesome wonders^(BE) you saw with your own eyes. ²² Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,^(BF) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.^(BG)

Cornelius Calls for Peter

10 At Caesarea^(A) there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. ² He and all his family were devout and God-fearing;^(B) he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. ³ One day at about three in the afternoon^(C) he had a vision.^(D) He distinctly saw an angel^(E) of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering^(F) before God.^{(G) 5} Now send men to Joppa^(H) to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is staying with Simon the tanner,^(I) whose house is by the sea.”

⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. ⁸ He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.^(J)

Peter’s Vision^(K)

⁹ About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof^(L) to pray. ¹⁰ He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.^{(M) 11} He saw heaven opened^(N) and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹² It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. ¹³ Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

¹⁴ “Surely not, Lord!”^(O) Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”^(P)

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”^(Q)

¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

¹⁷ While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision,^(R) the men sent by Cornelius^(S) found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. ¹⁸ They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹ While Peter was still thinking about the vision,^(T) the Spirit said^(U) to him, “Simon, three^[a] men are looking for you. ²⁰ So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”^(V)

²¹ Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

²² The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man,^(W) who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”^{(X) 23} Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers^(Y) from Joppa went along.^(Z)