New Testament in a Year
Peter Teaches Cornelius
10 At Caesarea [C a coastal city, 25 miles south of Mount Carmel; a center of Roman government for Palestine] there was a man named Cornelius, ·an officer [L a centurion; C an officer in charge of about a hundred soldiers] in the Italian ·group of the Roman army [L cohort; regiment; C a cohort was about six hundred soldiers]. 2 Cornelius was a ·religious [pious; godly] man. He and all ·the other people who lived in his house [his household] ·worshiped the true God [L feared God; C “God-fearers” were Gentiles who worshiped the one true God of Israel]. He gave much of his money to ·the poor [or the Jewish people; L the people] and prayed to God often. 3 ·One afternoon about three o’clock [L About the ninth hour of the day], Cornelius clearly saw a vision. An angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at the angel. He ·became afraid [was terrified] and said, “What do you want, ·Lord [or sir]?”
The angel said, “·God has heard your prayers. He has seen that you give to the poor, and he remembers you [L Your prayers and your alms have gone up to God as a memorial/memorial offering]. 5 Send some men now to Joppa [9:36] to bring back a man named Simon who is also called Peter. 6 He is staying [as a guest] with a man, ·also named Simon, who is a tanner [or named Simon Byrseus; 9:43] and has a house beside the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to Cornelius left, Cornelius called two of his ·servants [household slaves/servants] and a soldier, a ·religious [devout; pious; godly] man who ·worked for him [or was on his staff; or was loyal to him]. 8 Cornelius explained everything to them and sent them to Joppa.
9 About ·noon [L the sixth hour] the next day as they ·came near Joppa [L journeyed and drew near the city], Peter was going up to the roof [C in ancient Israel flat roofs were used as living spaces and for storage] to pray. 10 He was hungry and wanted to eat, but while the food was being prepared, he ·had a vision [or fell into a trance]. 11 He saw heaven opened and ·something [an object] coming down that looked like a big sheet being lowered to earth by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of ·animals [L four-footed creatures], reptiles, and birds [L of the air/sky]. 13 Then a voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “·No [Absolutely not], Lord! I have never eaten food that is ·unholy [profane; common] or ·unclean [ritually defiled; C the OT food laws differentiated Israelites from Gentiles; Lev. 11; Ezek. 4:13–15].”
15 But the voice said to him again, “God has made these things clean, so don’t call them ·‘unholy’ [‘profane’; ‘common’]!” 16 This happened three times, and at once the ·sheet [L object; thing] was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was ·wondering [perplexed about] what this vision meant, [L look; T behold] the men Cornelius sent had found Simon’s house and were standing at the gate. 18 They asked, “Is ·Simon Peter [L Simon who is called Peter] staying [as a guest] here?”
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “·Listen [L Look; T Behold], three men are looking for you. 20 [So; L But] Get up and go downstairs. Go with them without ·doubting [or hesitation], because I have sent them to you.”
21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are ·looking [searching] for. Why did you come here?”
22 They said, “A holy angel spoke to Cornelius, ·an army officer [L a centurion] and a ·good [righteous] man; he ·worships [L fears] God. ·All the people [L The whole Jewish nation] ·respect [speak well of; L testify to] him. The angel told Cornelius to ask you to come to his house so that he can hear what you have to say.” 23 So Peter ·asked [invited] the men to come in and ·spend the night [L entertained them as guests; C an unusual gesture, since Jews would not normally invite Gentiles into their homes].
The next day Peter got ·ready [up] and went with them, and some of the ·followers [Jewish believers; L brothers] from Joppa joined him.
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