| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4Cornelius 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[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa. Peter Visits Cornelius |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean. ” |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!” |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.” |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’ |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.” The Gentiles Hear the Good News |
| 34[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 34Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. |
| 35[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 35In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. |
| 36[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 36This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. |
| 37[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 37You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. |
| 38[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 38And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. |
| 39[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 39“And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, |
| 40[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 40but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, |
| 41[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 41not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. |
| 42[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 42And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. |
| 43[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 43He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.” The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit |
| 44[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 44Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. |
| 45[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 45The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. |
| 46[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 46For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, |
| 47[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 47“Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” |
| 48[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 48So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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