An angel of God talks to Cornelius
1There was a man in the city of Caesarea whose name was Cornelius. He was the captain of a group of Italian soldiers. 2He and all the people in his house served God and worshipped Him. He did a lot of good things for the poor Jewish people and he prayed to God every day. 3One day, about the 9th hour (3 o'clock in the afternoon), Cornelius had a vision. An angel of God came to him and said: ‘Cornelius.’
4Cornelius was afraid. He looked at the angel and said: ‘Sir, what do you want?’
The angel said to him: ‘God has listened to your prayers every day and He saw the good things that you did to help poor people. 5You must send a few men to the town of Joppa. They must look for Simon and they must bring him here. Simon's other name is Peter. 6Peter stays with a man whose name is also Simon. He works with leather and his house is near the sea.’
7The angel who had talked to Cornelius went away. Cornelius called 2 of his servants who worked in his house and a soldier who worshipped God. 8Cornelius told them what had happened and he sent them to the town of Joppa.
Peter goes to Cornelius
9The next day Cornelius' men came near the town of Joppa while Peter went up to the flat roof of the house to pray. It was about noon. 10He was hungry and he wanted something to eat. While the people in the house were busy cooking the food, Peter had a vision. 11He saw the heaven open and something like a big cloth coming down from heaven. It looked like someone was holding the 4 corners of the cloth as it came down to the ground. 12In the big cloth there were a lot of different animals: animals with 4 legs that live on the earth, reptiles and birds. 13Then someone said to Peter: ‘Peter, get up, kill these animals and eat them.’
14But Peter said: ‘No, Lord, I can not eat these animals because I have never eaten anything that was impure or which the laws say we may not eat.’
15The person talked to Peter for the 2nd time and said: ‘God has made these animals pure. You must not say they are impure.’ 16This happened 3 times and then the person pulled the cloth up into heaven.
17Peter was still wondering what this vision could mean, when the men who came from Cornelius were standing at the front door of the house and they asked where Simon's house was. 18They shouted and asked if Simon-Peter was staying there. 19Peter was still thinking about the things that he had seen, when the Holy_Spirit said to him: ‘There are 3 men who are looking for you. 20You must get up and go down to them. Go with them. Do not worry, because I have sent them.’
21Peter came down from the roof and he went to the men and told them: ‘You are looking for me. Here I am. Why did you come here?’
22Then they answered Peter and said: ‘Captain Cornelius sent us. He is a good man who worships God and all the Jewish people say good things about him. They respect him a lot. A holy angel came to Cornelius and told him to ask you to come to his house so that he can listen to what you say.’
23Peter invited the men into the house and asked them to sleep there that night. The next morning Peter went with them. Some of the believers from the town of Joppa went with him. 24The next day Peter went to the city of Caesarea where Cornelius and his family and friends were waiting for him. 25When Peter came into the house, Cornelius greeted him and he knelt on the floor before Peter's feet like someone who prays to God. 26But Peter took Cornelius' hand and helped him stand up. He said to him: ‘Stand up. I am only a man like you.’
27Peter talked to Cornelius and he went into the house. He saw a lot of people 28and he said to them: ‘You know that a Jew may not come into the house or be friends with someone who is not a Jew. But God has shown me now that I must not think that other people are impure. 29That is why I listened to God and I came when you called me to come here. Now please tell me why you asked me to come.’
30Cornelius said to him: ‘It was 3 days ago at the 9th hour (3 o'clock in the afternoon) when I was praying in my house. Then a man in shining white clothes appeared to me 31and he said: “Cornelius, God has listened to your prayers and He has seen the good things that you have done. 32You must send some men to the town of Joppa and ask Simon to come to you. His other name is Peter. This Simon-Peter is staying with a man whose name is also Simon. He works with leather and his house is near the sea.”
33Immediately I sent some men to you. Thank you that you have come here. Now all of us are together and God is here with us. We are here to listen to what God has told you to tell us.’
Peter speaks to people who are not Jews
34Peter then started to speak and he said: ‘Now I understand that God does not think one person is more important than another person. 35No, God accepts any person who worships Him and does what is right. It is not important what nation a person comes from. 36God has sent this message to the Israelites. He told them the Good_News about Jesus Christ who has made peace for all of us, and that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all people.
37You know about the important things that happened in all of Judea. It all started in Galilee after John the Baptist preached and baptised people. 38You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God anointed Him with the Holy_Spirit and gave Him power. God was with Jesus, and Jesus went to many places and did good things and healed everyone who was in the power of the devil. 39We saw everything that Jesus did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
Then the Jews killed Jesus. They crucified Him on a cross. 40But on the 3rd day God raised Him and made Him live again. God showed Jesus to us and we saw Him. 41God did not show Him to all the people, just to us, because God had chosen us before these things happened, to see Him and to be witnesses and to tell other people about this. We were with Him at a table and we ate and drank with Him after He had died and had come alive again.
42God told us to go and tell the Jews the Good_News about Jesus and to tell them that God has chosen Jesus to be the Judge of all people. He will judge the people who are alive and all the people who have died. 43All the prophets talked about Jesus. They said that God would forgive the sins of all who believe in Jesus.’
People who are not Jews receive the Holy_Spirit
44While Peter was talking to them, the Holy_Spirit came into all the people who listened to Peter's words. 45-46They started to speak_in_tongues and they praised God. The Jewish believers who had come with Peter were surprised because God also gave his Holy_Spirit to the Gentiles. Peter said: 47‘God gave his Holy_Spirit to these Gentiles, the same as to us. I am sure that it is not wrong to baptise them also with water.’
48Peter said that Cornelius and all his people must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. After that they asked Peter to stay there for a few days.
