Acts 10–11

Peter and Cornelius

10At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of ^wwhat was known as the Italian Cohort, ²a devout man ^xwho feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. ^3yAbout the ninth hour of the day^{1 z}he saw clearly in a vision ^aan angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” ⁴And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. ⁵And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ⁶He is lodging ^dwith one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, ⁸and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

⁹The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, ^ePeter went up ^fon the housetop about ^gthe sixth hour² to pray. ¹⁰And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into ^ha trance ¹¹and saw ⁱthe heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. ¹²In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; ^jfor I have never eaten anything that is ^kcommon or ^lunclean.” ¹⁵And the voice came to him again a second time, ^m“What God has made clean, do not call common.” ¹⁶This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what ⁿthe vision that he had seen might mean, behold, ^othe men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate ¹⁸and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. ¹⁹And while Peter was pondering ⁿthe vision, ^pthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. ²⁰Rise and go down and ^qaccompany them without hesitation,³ for I have sent them.” ²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and ^rGod-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by ^sa holy angel to send for you to come to his house and ^tto hear what you have to say.” ²³So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and ^usome of ^vthe brothers from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^wfell down at his feet and ^xworshiped him. ²⁶But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^y“Stand up; I too am a man.” ²⁷And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. ²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^zto associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^aGod has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. ²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, ^b“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^cthe ninth hour,⁴ and behold, ^da man stood before me in bright clothing ³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, ^eyour prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ³²Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ ³³So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^fGod ^gshows no partiality, ³⁵but ^fin every nation anyone who fears him and ^hdoes what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶As for ⁱthe word that he sent to Israel, ^jpreaching good news of ^kpeace through Jesus Christ (^lhe is Lord of all), ³⁷you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^mbeginning ⁿfrom Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸how ^oGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^pwith the Holy Spirit and with ^qpower. He went about doing good and healing all ^rwho were oppressed by the devil, ^sfor God was with him. ³⁹And ^twe are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^uThey put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰but ^vGod raised him on ^wthe third day and made him to ^xappear, ^41ynot to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^zwitnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²And ^ahe commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^bthat he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^cof the living and the dead. ^43dTo him ^eall the prophets bear witness that ^feveryone who believes in him receives ^gforgiveness of sins ^hthrough his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴While Peter was still saying these things, ⁱthe Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵And the believers from among ^jthe circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^kthe gift of the Holy Spirit ^lwas poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them ^mspeaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ⁴⁷ⁿ“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^ojust as we have?” ⁴⁸And he ^pcommanded them ^qto be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Peter Reports to the Church

11Now the apostles and ^rthe brothers¹ who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, ^sthe circumcision party² criticized him, saying, ^3t“You went to uncircumcised men and ^uate with them.” ⁴But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ^5v“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them, ^wmaking no distinction. ^xThese six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ^14yhe will declare to you a message by which ^zyou will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵As I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell on them ^bjust as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ^c‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷If then ^dGod gave ^ethe same gift to them as he gave to us ^fwhen we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^gwho was I ^hthat I could stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸When they heard these things they fell silent. And they ⁱglorified God, saying, ^j“Then to the Gentiles also God has ^kgranted ^lrepentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19mNow those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists³ also, ⁿpreaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^othe hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed ^pturned to the Lord. ²²The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When he came and saw ^qthe grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord ^rwith steadfast purpose, ²⁴for he was a good man, ^sfull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people ^twere added to the Lord. ²⁵So Barnabas went to ^uTarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called ^vChristians.

²⁷Now in these days ^wprophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸And one of them named ^xAgabus stood up and foretold ^yby the Spirit that there would be a great ^zfamine over all the world (this took place in the days of ^aClaudius). ²⁹So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, ^bto send relief to ^cthe brothers⁴ living in Judea. ^30dAnd they did so, sending it to ^ethe elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.