Acts 10–11

¹And there was a certain man in Caesarea, by name Cornelius, a centurion from a band called Italian, ²pious, and fearing God with all his house, doing also many kind acts to the people, and beseeching God always, ³he saw in a vision manifestly, as it were the ninth hour of the day, a messenger of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, ‘Cornelius;’ ⁴and he having looked earnestly on him, and becoming afraid, said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Thy prayers and thy kind acts came up for a memorial before God, ⁵and now send men to Joppa, and send for a certain one Simon, who is surnamed Peter, ⁶this one doth lodge with a certain Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea; this one shall speak to thee what it behoveth thee to do.’ ⁷And when the messenger who is speaking to Cornelius went away, having called two of his domestics, and a pious soldier of those waiting on him continually, ⁸and having declared to them all things, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹And on the morrow, as these are proceeding on the way, and are drawing nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the house-top to pray, about the sixth hour, ¹⁰and he became very hungry, and wished to eat; and they making ready, there fell upon him a trance, ¹¹and he doth behold the heaven opened, and descending unto him a certain vessel, as a great sheet, bound at the four corners, and let down upon the earth, ¹²in which were all the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the heaven, ¹³and there came a voice unto him: ‘Having risen, Peter, slay and eat.’ ¹⁴And Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord; because at no time did I eat anything common or unclean;’ ¹⁵and there is a voice again a second time unto him: ‘What God did cleanse, thou, declare not thou common;’ ¹⁶and this was done thrice, and again was the vessel received up to the heaven. ¹⁷And as Peter was perplexed in himself what the vision that he saw might be, then, lo, the men who have been sent from Cornelius, having made inquiry for the house of Simon, stood at the gate, ¹⁸and having called, they were asking if Simon, who is surnamed Peter, doth lodge here?

¹⁹And Peter thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Lo, three men do seek thee; ²⁰but having risen, go down and go on with them, nothing doubting, because I have sent them;’ ²¹and Peter having come down unto the men who have been sent from Cornelius unto him, said, ‘Lo, I am he whom ye seek, what is the cause for which ye are present?’ ²²And they said, ‘Cornelius, a centurion, a man righteous and fearing God, well testified to, also, by all the nation of the Jews, was divinely warned by a holy messenger to send for thee, to his house, and to hear sayings from thee.’ ²³Having called them in, therefore, he lodged them, and on the morrow Peter went forth with them, and certain of the brethren from Joppa went with him, ²⁴and on the morrow they did enter into Caesarea; and Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his kindred and near friends, ²⁵and as it came that Peter entered in, Cornelius having met him, having fallen at his feet, did bow before him; ²⁶and Peter raised him, saying, ‘Stand up; I also myself am a man;’ ²⁷and talking with him he went in, and doth find many having come together. ²⁸And he said unto them, ‘Ye know how it is unlawful for a man, a Jew, to keep company with, or to come unto, one of another race, but to me God did shew to call no man common or unclean; ²⁹therefore also without gainsaying I came, having been sent for; I ask, therefore, for what matter ye did send for me?’ ³⁰And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago till this hour, I was fasting, and at the ninth hour praying in my house, and, lo, a man stood before me in bright clothing, ³¹and he said, Cornelius, thy prayer was heard, and thy kind acts were remembered before God; ³²send, therefore, to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter; this one doth lodge in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea, who having come, shall speak to thee; ³³at once, therefore, I sent to thee; thou also didst do well, having come; now, therefore, are we all before God present to hear all things that have been commanded thee by God.’

³⁴And Peter having opened his mouth, said, ‘Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, ³⁵but in every nation he who is fearing Him, and is working righteousness, is acceptable to Him; ³⁶the word that he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming good news—peace through Jesus Christ (this one is Lord of all,) ³⁷ye—ye have known;—the word that came throughout all Judea, having begun from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached; ³⁸Jesus who is from Nazareth—how God did anoint him with the Holy Spirit and power; who went through, doing good, and healing all those oppressed by the devil, because God was with him; ³⁹and we—we are witnesses of all things that he did, both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem,—whom they did slay, having hanged upon a tree.

⁴⁰‘This one God did raise up the third day, and gave him to become manifest, ⁴¹not to all the people, but to witnesses, to those having been chosen before by God—to us who did eat with him, and did drink with him, after his rising out of the dead; ⁴²and he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify fully that it is he who hath been ordained by God judge of living and dead— ⁴³to this one do all the prophets testify, that through his name every one that is believing in him doth receive remission of sins.’

⁴⁴While Peter is yet speaking these sayings, the Holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word, ⁴⁵and those of the circumcision believing were astonished—as many as came with Peter—because also upon the nations the gift of the Holy Spirit hath been poured out, ⁴⁶for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. ⁴⁷Then answered Peter, ‘The water is any one able to forbid, that these may not be baptized, who the Holy Spirit did receive—even as also we?’ ⁴⁸he commanded them also to be baptized in the name of the Lord; then they besought him to remain certain days.

Chapter 11

¹And the apostles and the brethren who are in Judea heard that also the nations did receive the word of God, ²and when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision were contending with him, ³saying—‘Unto men uncircumcised thou didst go in, and didst eat with them!’ ⁴And Peter having begun, did expound to them in order saying, ⁵‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw in a trance a vision, a certain vessel coming down, as a great sheet by four corners being let down out of the heaven, and it came unto me; ⁶at which having looked stedfastly, I was considering, and I saw the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of heaven; ⁷and I heard a voice saying to me, Having risen, Peter, slay and eat; ⁸and I said, Not so, Lord; because anything common or unclean hath at no time entered into my mouth; ⁹and a voice did answer me a second time out of the heaven, What God did cleanse, thou—declare not thou common.

¹⁰‘And this happened thrice, and again was all drawn up to the heaven, ¹¹and, lo, immediately, three men stood at the house in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea unto me, ¹²and the Spirit said to me to go with them, nothing doubting, and these six brethren also went with me, and we did enter into the house of the man, ¹³he declared also to us how he saw the messenger in his house standing, and saying to him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter, ¹⁴who shall speak sayings by which thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house.

¹⁵‘And in my beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit did fall upon them, even as also upon us in the beginning, ¹⁶and I remembered the saying of the Lord, how he said, John indeed did baptize with water, and ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit; ¹⁷if then the equal gift God did give to them as also to us, having believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, I—how was I able to withstand God?’ ¹⁸And they, having heard these things, were silent, and were glorifying God, saying, ‘Then, indeed, also to the nations did God give the reformation to life.’

¹⁹Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only; ²⁰and there were certain of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having entered into Antioch, were speaking unto the Hellenists, proclaiming good news—the Lord Jesus, ²¹and the hand of the Lord was with them, a great number also, having believed, did turn unto the Lord. ²²And the account was heard in the ears of the assembly that is in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent forth Barnabas to go through unto Antioch, ²³who, having come, and having seen the grace of God, was glad, and was exhorting all with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord, ²⁴because he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith, and a great multitude was added to the Lord. ²⁵And Barnabas went forth to Tarsus, to seek for Saul, ²⁶and having found him, he brought him to Antioch, and it came to pass that they a whole year did assemble together in the assembly, and taught a great multitude, the disciples also were divinely called first in Antioch Christians.

²⁷And in those days there came from Jerusalem prophets to Antioch, ²⁸and one of them, by name Agabus, having stood up, did signify through the Spirit a great dearth is about to be throughout all the world—which also came to pass in the time of Claudius Caesar— ²⁹and the disciples, according as any one was prospering, determined each of them to send for ministration to the brethren dwelling in Judea, ³⁰which also they did, having sent unto the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Chapter 12