Study Desk

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [the people of] Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

But Peter said to him, "May your money be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could buy the [free] gift of God with money!

"You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart (motive, purpose) is not right before God.

Philip said to him, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he replied, "I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

And immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "This Man is the Son of God [the promised Messiah]!"

a devout man and one who, along with all his household, feared God. He made many charitable donations to the Jewish people, and prayed to God always.

About the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.) of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had come to him and said, "Cornelius!"

Cornelius was frightened and stared intently at him and said, "What is it, lord (sir)?" And the angel said to him, "Your prayers and gifts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God [an offering made in remembrance of His past blessings].

And the voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy)."

They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man well spoken of by all the Jewish people, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear what you have to say."

He said to them, "You know that it is unlawful for a Jewish man to associate with or befriend a Gentile, or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call anyone common or [ceremonially] unclean.

and he said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered before God [so that He is about to help you].

"So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to listen to everything that you have been instructed by the Lord [to say]."

Opening his mouth, Peter said: "Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God's blessing],

but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with great power; and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

God raised Him [to life] on the third day and caused Him to be plainly seen,

not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen and designated beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank together with Him after He rose from the dead.

"He commanded us to preach to the people [both Jew and Gentile], and to solemnly testify that He is the One who has been appointed and ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

For they heard them talking in [unknown] tongues (languages) and exalting and magnifying and praising God. Then Peter said,