Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord is holy!^[a]

⁶ You must understand this. The Lord your God is not giving you this good land to live in because you are doing right things. No! You are proud people who do not want to obey me.

The gold calf

⁷ Remember how you made the Lord your God angry when you were in the desert. Never forget that! Since you left Egypt, you have always turned against the Lord your God. You have continued to make him angry all the time until you arrived here. ⁸ When you were at Sinai you made him angry enough to destroy you. ⁹ I climbed the mountain to meet with the Lord. I received the two flat stones with the covenant that he had made with you. I stayed there for 40 days and nights. During that time, I did not eat or drink anything. ¹⁰ Then the Lord gave the two flat stones to me. He had written all his commands on the stones with his own finger. The Lord spoke those commands to you from middle of the fire. That was on the day when you all came together at the mountain.

¹¹ After those 40 days and nights, the Lord gave me the two flat stones. They had his covenant on them. ¹² Then the Lord said to me, ‘Now go down the mountain! The people that you led out of Egypt have done something very bad. They have already refused to obey my commands. They have used gold to make an idol for themselves.’

¹³ The Lord also said to me, ‘I know what these people are like! They are proud people who do not want to obey me. ¹⁴ Keep away from me! I will now destroy them! Then no one on the earth will remember them at all. Instead, Moses, I will make your descendants into a nation that is stronger and larger than they are.’

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]