Acts 9:32–11:18

Peter’s Ministry

³²Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to ^athe ¹saints who lived at ^2bLydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.

³⁵And all who lived at ^1aLydda and ^bSharon saw him, and they ^cturned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in ^aJoppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called ¹Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

³⁷And it happened ¹at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^aupper room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near ^aJoppa, ^bthe disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

³⁹So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^aupper room; and all the ^bwidows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ¹tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter ^asent them all out and ^bknelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^cTabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling ^athe ¹saints and ^bwidows, he presented her alive.

⁴²It became known all over ^aJoppa, and ^bmany believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed many days in ^aJoppa with ^ba tanner named Simon.

Chapter 10

Cornelius’s Vision

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 Jewish 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 just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And ^afixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God.

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

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

⁷When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his ¹servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,

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

⁹On 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; but while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance;

¹¹and he saw ^athe ¹sky opened up, and an ²object 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 ¹crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ²air.

¹³A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ¹kill and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything ¹unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider ¹unholy.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the ¹object was taken up into the ²sky.

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 staying there.

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

²⁰“But get up, go downstairs and ^aaccompany them ¹without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹Peter 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?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas divinely directed by a ^choly angel to send for you to come 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 got up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brethren from ^cJoppa accompanied him.

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

²⁵When 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 ¹unholy or unclean.

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

³⁰Cornelius 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 staying 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 commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34aOpening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but ^ain every nation the man who ^1bfears Him and ²does what is right is welcome to Him.

³⁶“The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^apreaching ^1bpeace through Jesus Christ (He is ^cLord of all)—

³⁷you yourselves know the thing which took place 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“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 ²cross.

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

^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 ^aordered us to ¹preach to the people, and solemnly to ^btestify that this is the One who has been ^cappointed 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 words, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ¹message.

^45aAll the ¹circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^bpoured out on the Gentiles also.

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

⁴⁷“^aSurely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who ^bhave received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

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

Chapter 11

Peter Reports at Jerusalem

¹Now the apostles and ^athe brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^1athose who were circumcised took issue with him,

³saying, “^aYou ¹went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began speaking ¹and proceeded to explain to them ^ain orderly sequence, saying,

⁵“^aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^ba vision, an ¹object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from ²the sky; and it came right down to me,

⁶and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it ¹I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the ²crawling creatures and the birds of the ³air.

⁷“I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; ¹kill and eat.’

⁸“But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing ¹unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer ¹consider unholy.’

¹⁰“This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into ¹the sky.

¹¹“And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from ^aCaesarea.

¹²“^aThe Spirit told me to go with them ^1bwithout misgivings. ^cThese six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.

¹³“And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ¹standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

¹⁴and he will speak ^awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ^ball your household.’

¹⁵“And as I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^bas He did upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized ¹with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷“Therefore if ^aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^bwho was I that I could ¹stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they ¹quieted down and ^aglorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^brepentance that leads to life.”