Acts of the Apostles 10

Cornelius the centurion

1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort known as the Italian Cohort. 2He was devout, and so was his whole household: he feared God, gave generously to the people, and prayed to God constantly. 3One afternoon, about the ninth hour, he saw plainly in a vision an angel of God come in to him and say, “Cornelius.” 4He stared at him, terrified, and said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have gone up before God, and he has remembered them. 5Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter. 6He is lodging with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7When the angel who had spoken to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from his personal guard, 8told them the whole story, and sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s vision

9The next day, while they were on the road and coming near the town, Peter went up on the roof to pray, about the sixth hour. 10He grew hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, a trance came over him. 11He saw the sky opened and something coming down that looked like a great sheet, let down to the ground by its four corners. 12In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and the birds of the air. 13A voice came to him: “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14“Never, Lord,” Peter said. “I have never eaten anything profane or unclean.” 15The voice came a second time: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” 16This happened three times, and at once the sheet was taken up into the sky. 17Peter was still turning the vision over in his mind, wondering what it meant, when the men sent by Cornelius, having asked the way to Simon’s house, appeared at the gate. 18They called out and asked whether Simon called Peter was lodging there. 19While Peter was still pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you. 20Get up, go down and go with them without hesitating, for I have sent them.” 21Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. Why have you come?” 22They answered, “Cornelius the centurion, an upright man who fears God and is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was told by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”

Peter in the house of a Gentile

23So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he set out with them, and some of the brothers and sisters from Joppa went along. 24The following day he reached Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them; he had gathered his relatives and his close friends. 25As Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet and bowed low before him. 26But Peter raised him up. “Stand up,” he said. “I am only a man myself.” 27Talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering. 28He said to them, “You know very well that it is forbidden for a Jew to associate with an outsider or to visit him. But God has shown me that I must not call anyone profane or unclean. 29That is why I came without objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?” 30Cornelius said, “Four days ago, at this very hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me 31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God. 32Send to Joppa, then, and summon Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ 33So I sent for you at once, and you have been good enough to come. Now, then, we are all here in the presence of God to hear everything the Lord has charged you to say.”

Peter speaks, and the Spirit falls on the Gentiles

34Peter began to speak: “I see now, beyond doubt, that God shows no favoritism. 35In every nation, whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36He sent his word to the sons of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ — and he is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism John proclaimed: 38how God anointed Jesus the Nazarene with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39And we are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to be seen — 41not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had chosen in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to proclaim to the people and to testify that this is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43To him all the prophets bear witness: everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44Peter was still speaking when the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 46for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47“Can anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward they asked him to stay on for a few days.