Acts 10

CHAPTER 10

Cornelius’ and Peter’s Visions

¹Now there was a man at ^aCaesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^bcalled the Italian ¹cohort,

²a devout man and ^aone who feared God with all his household, and ^bgave many ¹alms to the people and prayed to God continually.

³About ^athe ¹ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^bin a vision ^can angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And ^alooking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God.

⁵“Now send some men to ^aJoppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

⁶he is lodging with a tanner named ^aSimon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,

⁸and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to ^aJoppa.

⁹And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^aPeter went up on ^bthe housetop about ^cthe ¹sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance

¹¹and ^*saw ^aheaven opened up, and ¹an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

¹²and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ¹sky.

¹³And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ¹slaughter and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.”

¹⁶And this happened three times and immediately the ¹object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ¹mind as to what ^athe vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^bthe men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there.

¹⁹And while Peter was reflecting on ^athe vision, ^bthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, ¹three men are looking for you.

²⁰“But rise up, go down and ^aaccompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas directed by a ^choly angel to summon you to his house and hear ^1da message from you.”

²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter at Caesarea

And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brothers from ^cJoppa went with him.

²⁴And on the following day he entered ^aCaesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^1aworshiped him.

²⁶But Peter raised him up, saying, “^aStand up; I too am just a man.”

²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and ^*found ^amany people assembled.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^aunlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^bGod has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean.

²⁹“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “^aFour days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^bthe ¹ninth hour; and behold, ^ca man stood before me in shining garments,

³¹and he ^*said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ¹alms have been remembered before God.

³²‘Therefore send to ^aJoppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’

³³“So I sent for you immediately, and you have ¹been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit Poured Out on the Gentiles

^34aAnd opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most truly comprehend now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but ^ain every nation the one who ^1bfears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him.

³⁶“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^aproclaiming the good news of ^bpeace through Jesus Christ—He is ^cLord of all—

³⁷you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

³⁸“¹You know of ^aJesus of Nazareth, how God ^banointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^2cand how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^dGod was with Him.

³⁹“And we are ^awitnesses of all the things He did both in the ¹land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ^bput Him to death by hanging Him on a tree.

⁴⁰“^aGod raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear,

^41anot to all the people, but to ^bwitnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^cwho ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴²“And He ^acommanded us to ¹preach to the people, and solemnly to ^bbear witness that this is the One who has been ^cdesignated by God as ^dJudge of the living and the dead.

⁴³“Of Him ^aall the prophets bear witness that through ^bHis name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these things, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word.

^45aAnd all the ¹circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^bpoured out on the Gentiles also.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them ^aspeaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,

⁴⁷“^aCan anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who ^bhave received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”

⁴⁸And he ^aordered them to be baptized ^bin the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.