One Year Bible New Testament Sampler, Lakeside Haven - Flipbook - Page 23
JUNE
15
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AC TS 10:1-23
In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave
generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. 3One afternoon about three o’clock, he had
a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.
4
Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel.
And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an
offering! 5Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 6He is staying
with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”
7
As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout
soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8He told them what had happened and sent them off to
Joppa.
9
The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof
to pray. It was about noon, 10and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell
into a trance. 11He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four
corners. 12In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13Then a voice said to him,
“Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”
14
“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared
impure and unclean.”
15
But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16The
same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.
17
Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius
found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, 18they asked if a man named Simon Peter was
staying there.
19
Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men
have come looking for you. 20Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t
worry, for I have sent them.”
21
So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”
22
They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man,
well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that
he can hear your message.” 23So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went
with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.
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