Study Desk

He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.

He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.

It was about three o'clock one afternoon when he had a vision, in which he clearly saw an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius!"

He stared at the angel in fear and said, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered, "God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity, and is ready to answer you.

The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean."

"Captain Cornelius sent us," they answered. "He is a good man who worships God and is highly respected by all the Jewish people. An angel of God told him to invite you to his house, so that he could hear what you have to say."

He said to them, "You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his religion to visit or associate with Gentiles. But God has shown me that I must not consider any person ritually unclean or defiled.

and said: ‘Cornelius! God has heard your prayer and has taken notice of your works of charity.

And so I sent for you at once, and you have been good enough to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God, waiting to hear anything that the Lord has instructed you to say."

Peter began to speak: "I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.

You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.

But God raised him from death three days later and caused him to appear,

not to everyone, but only to the witnesses that God had already chosen, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from death.

And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.

The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also.

The apostles and the other believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

The voice spoke again from heaven, ‘Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.'

It is clear that God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, then, to try to stop God!"

When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, "Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!"

When he arrived and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad and urged them all to be faithful and true to the Lord with all their hearts.