Acts 10 (New American Standard)

Cornelius's Vision

1 Now there was a man at ¹Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ²called the Italian ^acohort, 2 a devout man and ³one who feared God with all his household, and ⁴gave many ^balms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually . 3 About ⁵the ^cninth hour of the day he clearly saw ⁶in a vision ⁷an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, "Cornelius !" 4 And ⁸fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord ?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and ^dalms ⁹have ascended ¹⁰as a memorial before God. 5 "Now dispatch some men to ¹¹Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter ; 6 he is staying with a tanner named ¹²Simon, whose house is by the sea." 7 When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his ^eservants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, 8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ¹³Joppa. 9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ¹⁴Peter went up on ¹⁵the housetop about ¹⁶the ^fsixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat ; but while they were making preparations, he ¹⁷fell into a trance ; 11 and he saw ¹⁸the ^gsky opened up, and an ^hobject like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and ⁱcrawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ^jair. 13 A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, ^kkill and eat !" 14 But Peter said, "By no means, ¹⁹Lord, for ²⁰I have never eaten anything ^lunholy and unclean." 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, "²¹What God has cleansed, no longer consider ^munholy." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the ⁿobject was taken up into the ^osky. 17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^pmind as to what ²²the vision which he had seen might be, behold, ²³the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate ; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was reflecting on ²⁴the vision, ²⁵the Spirit said to him, "Behold, ^qthree men are looking for you. 20 "But get up, go downstairs and ²⁶accompany them ^rwithout misgivings, for I have sent them Myself." 21 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 ?" 22 They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ²⁷God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ²⁸was divinely directed by a ²⁹holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^s30a message from you."

Peter at Caesarea

23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and ³¹ some of ³²the brethren from ³³ Joppa accompanied him. 24 On the following day he entered ³⁴Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^t35worshiped him. 26 But Peter raised him up, saying, "³⁶Stand up; I too am just a man." 27 As he talked with him, he entered and found ³⁷many people assembled. 28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how ³⁸unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ³⁹God has shown me that I should not call any man ^uunholy 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." 30 Cornelius said, "⁴⁰Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ⁴¹the ^vninth hour ; and behold, ⁴²a man stood before me in shining garments, 31 and he said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ^walms have been remembered before God. 32 'Therefore send to ⁴³Joppa 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 ^xbeen 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

34 ⁴⁴Opening his mouth, Peter said : "I most certainly understand now that ⁴⁵God is not one to show partiality, 35 but ⁴⁶in every nation the man who ^y47fears Him and ^zdoes what is right is welcome to Him. 36 "The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ⁴⁸preaching ^aa49peace through Jesus Christ (He is ⁵⁰Lord of all )- 37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 "^bbYou know of ⁵¹Jesus of Nazareth, how God ⁵²anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^cc53and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ⁵⁴God was with Him. 39 "We are ⁵⁵witnesses of all the things He did both in the ^ddland of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ⁵⁶put Him to death by hanging Him on a ^eecross. 40 "⁵⁷God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 ⁵⁸not to all the people, but to ⁵⁹witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ⁶⁰who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 "And He ⁶¹ordered us to ^ffpreach to the people, and solemnly to ⁶²testify that this is the One who has been ⁶³appointed by God as ⁶⁴Judge of the living and the dead. 43 "Of Him ⁶⁵all the prophets bear witness that through ⁶⁶His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, ⁶⁷the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ^ggmessage. 45 ⁶⁸All the ^hhcircumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ⁶⁹poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they were hearing them ⁷⁰speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, 47 "⁷¹Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who ⁷²have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" 48 And he ⁷³ordered them to be baptized ⁷⁴in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.