Acts 10:1-29

¹Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, the captain of the Italian band of the army;

²A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.

³He saw in a vision, clearly, at about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of the Lord coming to him and saying to him, Cornelius!

⁴And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.

⁵Now send men to Joppa, and get one Simon, named Peter,

⁶Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.

⁷And when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were waiting on him at all times;

⁸And having given them an account of everything, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹Now the day after, when they were on their journey and were near the town, Peter went up to the top of the house for prayer, about the sixth hour:

¹⁰And he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep came on him;

¹¹And he saw the heavens opening, and a vessel coming down, like a great cloth let down on the earth,

¹²In which were all sorts of beasts and birds.

¹³And a voice came to him, saying, Come, Peter; take them for food.

¹⁴But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean.

¹⁵And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not you make common.

¹⁶And this was done three times: and then the vessel was taken back into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was in doubt as to the purpose of this vision, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made search for Simon's house, came to the door,

¹⁸To see if Simon, named Peter, was living there.

¹⁹And, while Peter was turning the vision over in his mind, the Spirit said to him, See, three men are looking for you.

²⁰Go down, then, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.

²¹And Peter went down to the men, and said, I am the man you are looking for: why have you come?

²²And they said, Cornelius, a captain, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by all the nation of the Jews, had word from God by an angel to send for you to his house, and to give hearing to your words.

²³So he took them in for the night. And the day after, he went with them, taking some of the brothers from Joppa with him.

²⁴And the day after that, they came to Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them, having got together his relations and his near friends.

²⁵And when Peter came in, Cornelius came to him and, falling down at his feet, gave him worship.

²⁶But Peter, lifting him up, said, Get up, for I am a man as you are.

²⁷And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;

²⁸And he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean:

²⁹And so I came without question, when I was sent for. What then is your purpose in sending for me?