Acts 10:17-31

¹⁷Peter sat there and thought, “What does this mean? What is God telling me?” While Peter was still trying to understand it, those 3 men from Cornelius walked into that town, Joppa. They asked people, “Where does Simon live, the leather worker man?” Then they stood outside at the gate of that house

¹⁸and asked, “Is Simon Peter here?”

¹⁹At that same time, Peter was thinking about what he just saw, and the Holy Spirit said to him, “Listen, 3 men are down at the gate. They are looking for you.

²⁰So get up and go down to them. You see, I sent them to you, so just go with them. Don’t worry.”

²¹Peter went down and said to the men, “Hey, I’m the man you are looking for. Why did you come here?”

²²They said, “Cornelius sent us. He is a boss in the Roman army. He is a good man and he respects God. All the Jews say he is a good man too. God sent one of his angel messengers to Cornelius and told him to ask you to come to his house and talk to him.”

²³So Peter asked them to come in and stay there that night. The next morning Peter got up and went with those men. Some of the Joppa Christians went with him too. They had to camp one night along the road.

²⁴The next day Cornelius called all his relatives and close friends to come to his house in Caesarea, and about 3 o’clock that day Peter and his mob came and found them waiting there.

²⁵Peter started to go into the house, and Cornelius met him and got down on to his knees in front of Peter, to show him respect.

²⁶But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I’m only a man, like you.”

²⁷Peter kept talking with Cornelius, then they went into the house, and Peter saw a lot of people there.

²⁸He said to them, “You know that the Jewish law teachers reckon that people that aren’t Jews are no good, so a Jew shouldn’t go into their house. But God showed me that I shouldn’t say that anyone is no good. He showed me that it is all right for me to visit you.

²⁹Then these men came and asked me to come here, so I didn’t talk back. I came here with them. Now, please tell me, why did you ask me to come here?”

³⁰Cornelius said, “4 days ago I was praying in my house at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly I saw a man wearing bright shining clothes standing in front of me.

³¹And he said to me, ‘Cornelius, God heard you pray and he knows that you give money and things to the poor people.