Now there was in Caesarea a certain man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the  ¹Italian  ²cohort,

 ¹Devout and one who feared God with all his household, giving many alms to the people and beseeching God continually.

He saw clearly in a  ¹vision around the  ²ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, Cornelius.

And he looked intently at him and became terrified and said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a  ¹memorial before God.

And now send men to Joppa and send for a certain Simon, who is surnamed Peter;

This man is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.

And when the angel who was speaking to him went away, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him;

And relating all things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

And on the next day as they were journeying and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to  ¹pray around the  ²sixth hour.

And he became very  ¹hungry and wanted to  ²eat. And while they were preparing, a  ³trance came upon him;

And he beheld  ¹heaven opened, and a certain  ²vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners onto the earth,

In which were all the four-footed  ¹animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven.

And a voice came to him: Rise up, Peter; slay and  ¹eat!

But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have  ¹never eaten anything common and unclean.

And a voice came to him again a second time: The  ¹things that God has cleansed, do not make common.

And this occurred three times; and immediately the vessel was taken up into heaven.

Now as Peter was utterly perplexed in himself as to what the  ¹vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made diligent inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate.

And they called out and inquired whether Simon, who is surnamed Peter, was lodging there.

And while Peter was pondering over the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, there are three men seeking you.

But rise up, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, because  ¹I have sent them.

And Peter went down to the men and said, Behold, I am he whom you seek; what is the cause for which you have come?

And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God and is well attested to by the whole nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear words from you.

So he called them in and lodged them. And on the next day he rose up and went away with them; and  ¹some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

And on the next day they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his relatives and intimate friends.

And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshipped him.

But Peter raised him up, saying, Rise up; I myself am also a man.

And as he talked with him, he entered and found many who had come together.

And he said to them, You understand that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to join himself to or come near one of another race; yet God has shown me that I should not call any  ¹man common or unclean.

Hence, even without objection I came when I had been sent for. I ask therefore, For what reason have you sent for me?

And Cornelius said, Four days ago to this hour I was praying at the ninth hour in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Send therefore to Joppa and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter; this man is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.

Therefore I sent men at once to you, and you have done nobly in coming. Now therefore we all are present before God to hear all the things that have been commanded to you by the Lord.

And opening his mouth, Peter said, In truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons,

But in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is  ¹acceptable to Him.

The word which He sent to the sons of Israel in announcing the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (this One is Lord of  ¹all)

You yourselves know,  ¹the word which has been spoken throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed:

Jesus, the One from Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all those who were being oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

And we are witnesses of all the things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom also they did away with by hanging Him on a tree.

This One,  ¹God raised on the third day; and He has made Him  ²manifest,

Not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, ones who ate and drank with Him after  ¹He rose from the dead.

And He has charged us to proclaim to the people and solemnly testify that this is the One who was designated by God to be the  ¹Judge of the living and the dead.

To this One all the prophets testify that through His name everyone who believes into Him will receive  ¹forgiveness of sins.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit  ¹fell upon all those  ²hearing the word.

And the believers who were of the circumcision, as many as had accompanied Peter, were amazed, because on the Gentiles also the  ¹gift of the Holy Spirit had been  ²poured out;

For they heard them  ¹speaking in tongues and  ²magnifying God. Then Peter answered,

Can anyone forbid the water so that these would not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit even  ¹as we?

And he charged them to be  ¹baptized  ²in the  ³name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

And the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the  ¹circumcision disputed with him,

Saying, You went in to men who are uncircumcised and ate with them.

And Peter began, and he explained to them in sequence, saying,

I was in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw in a trance a vision, a certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners out of heaven; and it came unto me.

Looking intently into it, I examined it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of heaven.

And I also heard a voice saying to me, Rise up, Peter; slay and eat!

But I said, By no means, Lord, for no common or unclean thing has ever entered into my mouth.

And a voice answered a second time out of heaven, The things that God has cleansed, do not make common.

And this occurred three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.

And behold, at that moment three men stood at the house in which we were, having been sent from Caesarea to me.

And the Spirit told me to go with them,  ¹doubting nothing. And  ²these six brothers went with me also; and we entered into the man's house.

And he reported to us how he saw the angel standing in his house and saying, Send men to Joppa and send for Simon, who is surnamed Peter,

Who will speak words to you by which you shall be saved, you and all your  ¹house.

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as also on us in the beginning.

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

If therefore God has given to them the equal gift as also to us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could have forbidden God?

And when they heard these things, they became silent and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has given repentance unto  ¹life.

Those then who were  ¹scattered by the tribulation which took place on account of Stephen passed through as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to  ²no one except Jews only.

But there were some of them,  ¹men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and  ²spoke also to the Greeks, announcing the Lord Jesus as the gospel.

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

And the account concerning them was heard in the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they  ¹sent out  ²Barnabas to pass through as far as Antioch,

Who, when he arrived and saw the  ¹grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all to  ²remain with the Lord with purpose of heart;

For he was a good man and  ¹full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a considerable  ²number was added to the Lord.

And he went forth to Tarsus to search for Saul;

And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it happened with them that for a whole year they were gathered in the church and taught a considerable number and that the disciples were first called  ¹Christians in Antioch.

And in these days  ¹prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

And one of them named Agabus rose up and signified through the Spirit that there was about to be a great famine over the whole inhabited earth, which occurred during the time of  ¹Claudius.

And the  ¹disciples, according to how one was  ²prospered, determined, each one of them, to send things  ³for dispensing to the brothers dwelling in Judea,

Which also they did, sending it to the  ¹elders through the hand of Barnabas and  ²Saul.

Now about that time  ¹Herod the king laid hands on some from the church in order to mistreat them.

And he did away with James, the brother of John, with the sword.

And when he saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter also (now those were the days of Unleavened Bread),

Whom also he seized and put in prison, delivering him to four  ¹quaternions of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

So then Peter was kept in the prison;

but prayer was being made fervently by the church to God concerning him.

And when Herod was about to bring him forward, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards before the door were keeping the prison.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands.

And the angel said to him, Gird yourself and tie on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him, Throw your cloak around you and follow me.

And he went out and followed him; yet he did not know that what was taking place through the angel was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision.

And passing the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened of itself to them. And going out, they went forward one lane; and immediately the angel departed from him.

And Peter  ¹came to himself and said, Now I know truly that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me out of Herod's hand and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.

And when he became aware of this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, where there was a considerable number assembled together and praying.

And when he knocked at the door of the entry, a maiden named Rhoda came to listen.

And when she recognized Peter's voice, she did not open the gate for joy, but ran in and reported that Peter was standing before the entry.

But they said to her, You are crazy! But she insisted that it was so. And they said, It is  ¹his angel.

But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the gate, they saw him and were beside themselves.

And motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he related to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and he said, Report these things to  ¹James and the brothers. And going out, he went to another place.

Now when it became day, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers, they not knowing what had become of Peter.

And when Herod searched for him and did not find him,

he examined the guards and ordered that they be led off to execution. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Now he was furious with the Tyrians and Sidonians. And they came to him with one accord; and having persuaded Blastus, the king's  ¹chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was fed from the king's country.

And on an appointed day Herod arrayed himself in royal clothing and sat on the judgment seat; and he delivered a public address to them.

And the populace cried out, The voice of a god and not of a man!

And instantly an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God; and he was eaten by worms and  ¹expired.

But the word of  ¹God grew and multiplied.

And  ¹Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having completed the dispensing; and they took along with them John, who was surnamed Mark.