Acts 10–11

10TH CHAPTER

Cornelius Has a Vision

¹A man named Cornelius lived in the city of Caesarea. He was a Roman army officer in the Italian Regiment. ²He and everyone in his home were devout and respected God. Cornelius gave many gifts to poor Jewish people and always prayed to God. 

³One day, about three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He clearly saw an angel from God come to him and say, “Cornelius!” 

⁴He stared at the angel and was terrified. Cornelius asked the angel, “What do you want, sir?” 

The angel answered him, “God is aware of your prayers and your gifts to the poor, and he has remembered you. ⁵Send messengers now to the city of Joppa, and summon a man whose name is Simon Peter. ⁶He is a guest of Simon, a leatherworker, whose house is by the sea.” 

⁷After saying this, the angel left. Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of those who served him regularly. ⁸Cornelius explained everything to them and sent them to Joppa. 

Peter Has a Vision

⁹Around noon the next day, while Cornelius’ men were on their way and coming close to Joppa, Peter went on the roof to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wanted to eat. While the food was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹He saw the sky open and something like a large linen sheet being lowered by its four corners to the ground. ¹²In the sheet were all kinds of four-footed animals, reptiles, and birds. 

¹³A voice told him, “Get up, Peter! Kill these animals, and eat them.” 

¹⁴Peter answered, “I can’t do that, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything that is impure or unclean.”^a

¹⁵A voice spoke to him a second time, “Don’t say that the things which God has made clean^bare impure.” 

¹⁶This happened three times. Then the sheet was quickly taken into the sky. 

¹⁷While Peter was puzzled by the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and went to the gate. ¹⁸They asked if Simon Peter was staying there. ¹⁹Peter was still thinking about the vision when the Spirit said to him, “Three men are looking for you. ²⁰Get up, and go downstairs. Don’t hesitate to go with these men. I have sent them.” 

²¹So Peter went to the men. He said, “I’m the man you’re looking for. Why are you here?” 

²²The men replied, “Cornelius, a Roman army officer, sent us. He’s a man who has God’s approval and who respects God. Also, the Jewish people respect him. A holy angel told him to summon you to his home to hear what you have to say.” 

²³Peter asked the men to come into the house and had them stay overnight. 

Peter Speaks with Cornelius

The next day Peter left with them. Some disciples from Joppa went along. ²⁴The following day they arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called his relatives and close friends together. 

²⁵When Peter was about to enter Cornelius’ house, Cornelius met him, bowed down, and worshiped Peter. ²⁶But Peter made him get up. He told him, “Stand up! I’m only a man.” 

²⁷As Peter talked, he entered Cornelius’ house and found that many people had gathered. ²⁸He said to them, “You understand how wrong it is for a Jewish man to associate or visit with anyone of another race. But God has shown me that I should no longer call anyone impure or unclean. ²⁹That is why I didn’t object to coming here when you sent for me. I want to know why you sent for me.” 

³⁰Cornelius answered, “Four days ago I was praying at home. It was at this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man dressed in radiant clothes stood in front of me. ³¹He said to me, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and has remembered your gifts to the poor. ³²So send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man whose name is Simon Peter. He’s a guest in the home of Simon, a leatherworker who lives by the sea.’ ³³So I sent for you immediately. Thank you for coming. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say.” 

³⁴Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites. ³⁵Rather, whoever respects God and does what is right is acceptable to him in any nation. ³⁶God sent his word to the people of Israel and brought them the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is everyone’s Lord. ³⁷You know what happened throughout Judea. Everything began in Galilee after John spread the news about baptism. ³⁸You know that God anointed Jesus from Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus went everywhere and did good things, such as healing everyone who was under the devil’s power. Jesus did these things because God was with him. ³⁹We can testify to everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. People hung him on a cross and killed him, ⁴⁰but God brought him back to life on the third day. God didn’t show him ⁴¹to all the people. He showed Jesus to witnesses, apostles he had already chosen. We apostles are those men who ate and drank with Jesus after he came back to life. ⁴²He ordered us to warn the people, ‘God has appointed Jesus to judge the living and the dead.’ ⁴³In addition, all the prophets testify that people who believe in the one named Jesus receive forgiveness for their sins through him.” 

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came to everyone who heard his message. ⁴⁵All the believers who were circumcised and who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured on people who were not Jewish. ⁴⁶They heard these non-Jewish people speaking in other languages and praising God. 

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“No one can refuse to baptize these people with water. They have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did.” ⁴⁸So Peter ordered that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Then they asked Peter to stay with them for several days. 

11TH CHAPTER

Peter Reports That Non-Jewish People Can Belong to the Church

¹The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that people who were not Jewish had accepted God’s word. ²However, when Peter went to Jerusalem, the believers who insisted on circumcision began to argue with him. ³They said, “You went to visit men who were uncircumcised, and you even ate with them.” 

⁴Then Peter began to explain to them point by point what had happened. He said, ⁵“I was praying in the city of Joppa when I fell into a trance. I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered by its four corners from the sky. The sheet came near me. ⁶I looked into the sheet very closely and saw tame animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds. ⁷I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill these animals, and eat them.’ 

⁸“But I answered, ‘I can’t do that, Lord! I’ve never put anything impure or unclean^ainto my mouth.’ 

⁹“A voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Don’t say that the things which God has made clean^bare impure.’ ¹⁰This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back into the sky again. 

¹¹“At that moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent from Caesarea to find me. ¹²The Spirit told me to go with them without any hesitation. Six believers ⸤from Joppa⸥ went with me, and we visited Cornelius’ home. 

¹³“He told us that he had seen an angel standing in his home. The angel told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man whose name is Simon Peter. ¹⁴He will give you a message that will save you and everyone in your home.’ 

¹⁵“When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came to these people. This was the same thing that happened to us in the beginning. ¹⁶I remembered that the Lord had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷When they believed, God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So who was I to interfere with God?” 

¹⁸When the others heard this, they had no further objections. They praised God by saying, “Then God has also led people who are not Jewish to turn to him so that they can change the way they think and act and have eternal life.” 

The New Church in Antioch

¹⁹Some of the believers who were scattered by the trouble that broke out following Stephen’s death went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and the city of Antioch. They spoke God’s word only to Jewish people. ²⁰But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, arrived in Antioch. They started to spread the Good News about the Lord Jesus to Greeks. ²¹The Lord’s power was with his followers, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 

²²After the news about Antioch reached the church in Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent to Antioch. ²³When he arrived there, he was pleased to see what God had done for them out of kindness.^cSo he encouraged all the people to remain solidly committed to the Lord. ²⁴Barnabas was a dependable man, and he was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. A large crowd believed in the Lord. 

²⁵Then Barnabas left Antioch to go to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶After finding Saul, Barnabas brought him back to Antioch. Barnabas and Saul met with the church in Antioch for a whole year and taught a large group of people. The disciples were called Christians for the first time in the city of Antioch. 

²⁷At that time some prophets came from Jerusalem to the city of Antioch. ²⁸One of them was named Agabus. Through the Spirit Agabus predicted that a severe famine would affect the entire world. This happened while Claudius was emperor. ²⁹All the disciples in Antioch decided to contribute whatever they could afford to help the believers living in Judea. ³⁰The disciples did this and sent their contribution with Barnabas and Saul to the leaders ⸤in Jerusalem⸥.