Acts 10:3-39

³One afternoon at 3 o’clock he was praying, and it was like he had a dream, but he was not asleep, he was awake. He saw an angel messenger from God coming to him and calling his name, “Cornelius.”

⁴Cornelius looked at the angel and was afraid of him. He asked him, “What do you want, boss?” The angel said, “Cornelius, God heard you praying and saw you give money and things to the poor people. It is like you gave those things and money to God, so God is thinking about you.

⁵So send some men to Joppa to find a man called Simon Peter.

⁶He is staying with a leather worker called Simon. His house is near the sea. Tell your men to get Peter and bring him back to you.”

⁷The angel finished talking with Cornelius and went away. Then Cornelius called 2 of the men that worked in his house, and one of the soldiers that looked after him. That soldier respected God too.

⁸Cornelius told them everything that happened and then he told them to go to Joppa and get Peter.

⁹The next day, about the middle of the day, those men were walking along and getting near to Joppa. At that same time Peter went up on to the flat roof of the house to pray.

¹⁰He started feeling hungry and he wanted something to eat, but he waited and prayed while the people in the house were getting some food ready. Then Peter had like a dream, but he was still awake.

¹¹He saw the sky open up, then he saw something like a big sheet. Somebody was holding on to the 4 corners of that sheet, and there was something in the middle of it. It was coming down from the sky to the ground. There were all kinds of animals in it, and lizards, and snakes, and birds. (Their Jewish law said, “Don’t eat those kinds of animals, they are no good.”)

¹³Then a voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter. Kill some of those animals and eat them.”

¹⁴But Peter said, “No, boss. I can’t do that. Our Jewish law says we can’t eat that kind of animal. They are no good, so I never eat any of them.”

¹⁵Then the voice said to Peter, “If God says that something is good, don’t say it is no good.”

¹⁶That happened 3 times. Each time that voice told Peter to eat one of those animals, and each time Peter said, “No,” and each time the voice said, “If God says that something is good, don’t say it is no good.” Then that sheet went back up into the sky.

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.

³²So send some men to Joppa and tell them to get Simon Peter and bring him back here. He is staying in a leather worker’s house, whose name is Simon. His house is near the sea.

³³So right away I sent those men to bring you here. Thank you for coming. God can see us all here. We are ready to hear everything that he told you to say to us.”

³⁴Then Peter started telling them his message. He said, “Now I really understand that God treats everyone the same.

³⁵If anyone respects God and does the right thing, God will let them come to him, and he will listen to them. It doesn’t matter if they are Jews, or if they belong to another tribe.

³⁶This is the message that God sent to the Israel people, that Jesus Christ can make all of us friends with God. You see, Jesus is the boss over everybody.

³⁷Listen, you know the things that happened, first in Galilee country, and then in Judea country. At first John the Baptiser told the people to turn to God,

³⁸then God gave the Holy Spirit and power to Jesus, a man from the town called Nazareth. God was with Jesus, and he went everywhere doing good things. Some people were sick, and the devil was giving them big trouble. But Jesus made them better.

³⁹We went around with Jesus and saw all the things that he did, in the Jewish people’s country, and in Jerusalem city. But then his enemies killed him. They nailed him to a cross.