Acts 10
10
The Man Cornelius
1 Now in Caesarea there was* a certain man, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Cohort, 2 pious and fearing God with all his household, doing many philanthropic acts for the people, and praying to God continually. 3 At about the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he gazed intently at him, and became afraid and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your philanthropic acts have ascended as a remembrance offering before God. 5 And now, send men to Joppa and invite a certain Simon, who is called Peter. 6 He lodges with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, he summoned two of his* household servants and a pious soldier from those who attended him, 8 and after he had related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Peter’s Trance
9 And the next day, as they were travelling and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour. 10 And he became hungry and wanted to eat. But as they were preparing it, a trance came over him. 11 And he saw the heaven opened, and a certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down on the earth by its four corners, 12 in which were all the quadrupeds* and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Absolutely not, Lord. For I have never eaten anything common and unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again for the second time, “What God has cleansed, do not regard as profane.” 16 And this occurred three times; and immediately,* the vessel was taken up into heaven.
17 Now while Peter was thoroughly perplexed within himself as to what the vision which he had seen might indicate, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found Simon’s house by inquiry, stood at the gate. 18 And when they called out, they asked if Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. 19 And as Peter was pondering over the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 But rise, go down, and go with them without hesitating, because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down to the men* and said, “Behold, I am he whom you are seeking for. What is the reason for which you have come?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man—and well-attested to by the entire nation of the Jews—was divinely instructed by a holy angel to invite you to his house and to hear words from you.” 23 So he called them in and entertained them.
And on the next day, when he arose, he went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. 24 And on the following day, he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 So when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet* and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Rise; I myself am also a man.” 27 And as he discussed with him, he entered and found many people gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or to come near a foreigner. But God has shown to me that I must not call any person common or unclean. 29 Therefore—and with full agreement—I came when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason did you send for me?”
30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, at the ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man stood before me in sparkling clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your philanthropic acts have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore, send to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter. He lodges in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. 33 Therefore, I sent for you at once, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God to hear all the things that have been commanded to you by the Lord.”
The Gospel Preached to the Gentiles
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I understand that God is not a respecter of persons, 35 but in every nation the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. 36 Regarding* the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— 37 you know the matter that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached: 38 Jesus of Nazareth,* how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all the things which He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they also killed by hanging Him on a tree. 40 This One—God raised on the third day and granted Him to become manifest, 41 not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen in advance by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that He is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and of the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name”
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. 45 And the believers from the circumcision* who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter said, 47 “No one is able to withhold the water for these people* to be baptised, who have received the Holy Spirit as we also have?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for some days.
Notes
7 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive his
12 Or four-footed animals
16 Some ancient manuscripts replace immediately with again
25 Greek at the feet
36 The preposition regarding is not found in the Greek text, but is added here for the purpose of clarification
38 Greek from of Nazareth
45 Or the circumcised
47 Greek these
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
