Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer of Praise^[a]

Jerusalem Will Be Restored

² The time is coming when the Lord will make every plant and tree in the land grow large and beautiful. All the people of Israel who survive will take delight and pride in the crops that the land produces. ³ Everyone who is left in Jerusalem, whom God has chosen for survival, will be called holy. ⁴ By his power the Lord will judge and purify the nation and wash away the guilt of Jerusalem and the blood that has been shed there. ^5 (A)Then over Mount Zion and over all who are gathered there, the Lord will send a cloud in the daytime and smoke and a bright flame at night. God's glory will cover and protect the whole city. ⁶ His glory will shade the city from the heat of the day and make it a place of safety, sheltered from the rain and storm.

Peter's Report to the Church at Jerusalem

11 The apostles and the other believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² When Peter went to Jerusalem, those who were in favor of circumcising Gentiles criticized him, saying, ³ “You were a guest in the home of uncircumcised Gentiles, and you even ate with them!” ⁴ So Peter gave them a complete account of what had happened from the very beginning:

⁵ “While I was praying in the city of Joppa, I had a vision. I saw something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it stopped next to me. ⁶ I looked closely inside and saw domesticated and wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. ⁷ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat!’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No ritually unclean or defiled food has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ The voice spoke again from heaven, ‘Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and finally the whole thing was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was^[a] staying. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six fellow believers from Joppa accompanied me to Caesarea, and we all went into the house of Cornelius. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter. ¹⁴ He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them just as on us at the beginning. ^16 (A)Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ It is clear that God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, then, to try to stop God!”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, “Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!”