1 There was a certain man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort called the Italian cohort,
2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always.
3 He saw plainly in a vision, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, "Cornelius."
4 And when he looked at him, he was afraid and said, "What is it, lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
5 And now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter;
6 he is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do."
7 And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius had departed, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually,
8 and when he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 On the next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
10 And he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, a trance fell upon him,
11 and he saw heaven opened and a certain vessel descending to him, like a great sheet, bound at the four corners and let down to the earth,
12 in which were all the four-footed animals of the earth, and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the air.
13 And a voice came to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
15 And a voice came to him again a second time: "What God has cleansed, do not call common."
16 This was done three times, and the vessel was taken up again into heaven.
17 Now while Peter was at a loss within himself as to what the vision he had seen might be, look, the men sent from Cornelius, having asked their way to Simon's house, stood at the gate,
18 and calling out, they asked whether Simon, surnamed Peter, was a guest there.
19 And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men seek you.
20 Arise therefore, go down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them."
21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, "Look, I am the one you seek. What is the cause for which you have come?"
22 And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear words from you."
23 So he called them in and gave them lodging. And the next day Peter went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along with him.
24 And the day after, they entered Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his kinsmen and close friends.
25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and falling down at his feet, worshiped him.
26 But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man."
27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together.
28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to keep company with or come to someone of another race; but God has shown me that I should call no man common or unclean.
29 Therefore I came without objecting as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason you have sent for me."
30 And Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man stood before me in bright clothing,
31 and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God.
32 Send therefore to Joppa and call here Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodging in the house of one Simon, a tanner, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.'
33 So I sent for you at once, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all here present before God to hear all the things that God has commanded you."
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God is not one to show partiality,
35 but in every nation the one who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
36 The word that he sent to the children of Israel, announcing peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
37 you yourselves know: the thing that happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they killed by hanging him on a tree.
40 God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen,
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us, 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 solemnly that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
43 To him all the prophets bear witness, that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins."
44 While Peter was yet speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were hearing the word.
45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because on the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out;
46 for they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay for some days.