Peter and Cornelius

10 ¹In the city of Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius. He was an army officer* in the "Italian" group [of the Roman army]. ²Cornelius was a good (religious) man. He and all the other people that lived in his home worshiped the true God. He gave much of his money to the poor people. Cornelius prayed to God always. ³One afternoon about three o'clock, Cornelius saw a vision.* He saw it clearly. In the vision an angel from God came to him and said, "Cornelius!" ⁴Cornelius looked at the angel. He became afraid and said, "What do you want, sir?" The angel said to Cornelius, "God has heard your prayers. He has seen the things you give to the poor people. God remembers you. ⁵Send some men now to the city of Joppa. Send your men to bring back a man named Simon. Simon is also called Peter. ⁶Simon is staying with a man, also named Simon, who is a leatherworker.* He has a house beside the sea." ⁷The angel who spoke to Cornelius left. Then Cornelius called two of his servants and a soldier. This soldier was a good (religious) man. The soldier was one of Cornelius' close helpers. ⁸Cornelius explained everything to these three men. Then he sent them to Joppa. ⁹The next day these men came near Joppa. At that time, Peter was going up to the roof to pray. It was about noon. ¹⁰Peter was hungry. He wanted to eat. But while they were preparing the food for Peter to eat, a vision* came to him. ¹¹He saw something coming down through the open sky. It looked like a big sheet coming down to the ground. It was being lowered to the ground by its four corners. ¹²Every kind of animal was in it--animals that walk, animals that crawl on the ground, and birds that fly in the air. ¹³Then a voice said to Peter, "Get up, Peter; kill any of these animals and eat it." ¹⁴But Peter said, "I would never do that, Lord! I have never eaten food that is unholy or not pure." ¹⁵But the voice said to him again, "God has made these things clean (pure). Don't call them 'unholy'!" ¹⁶This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back up into the sky. ¹⁷Peter wondered what this vision* meant. The men that Cornelius sent had found Simon's house. They were standing at the door. ¹⁸They asked, "Is Simon Peter staying here?" ¹⁹Peter was still thinking about the vision.* But the Spirit* said to him, "Listen! Three men are looking for you. ²⁰Get up and go downstairs. Go with these men and don't ask questions. I have sent them to you." ²¹So Peter went downstairs to the men. He said, "I am the man you are looking for. Why did you come here?" ²²The men said, "A holy angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house. Cornelius is an army officer.* He is a good man; he worships God. All the Jewish people respect him. The angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house so that he can listen to the things you have to say." ²³Peter asked the men to come in and stay for the night. The next day Peter got ready and went away with the three men. Some of the brothers (believers) from Joppa went with Peter.

army officer A centurion, a Roman army officer who had authority over 100 soldiers. vision(s) Something like dreams used by God to speak to people. leatherworker Man who made leather from animal skins. Spirit, Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world.