4
Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!
5
Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.
6
He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”
7
As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants.
8
He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.
9
The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon,
10
and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11
He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners.
12
In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds.
13
Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”
14
“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean. ”