1 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort called the Italian cohort; a pious ^^ who feared God, together with all his household, who did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God in everything he did. In a vision about the ninth hour he saw plainly an angel of God who came into his house and said to him: Cornelius. He gazed at him and was full of fear and said to him: What is it, Lord? He said to him: Your prayers and your acts of charity have gone up and come to the attention of God. Now send men to Joppa, and invite a man named Simon, s^mamed Peter; he is the guest of Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. And when the angel who spoke to him left him, he called in two of his servants, and a pious soldier out of those who were under his co^^^d, and told them everything and sent them to Joppa.
On the next day, as these men were on their way and approac^^g the city, Peter went up to the roof to pray at about the sixth hour. And he was hungry and wished to eat; and as people were preparing something for him, a trance came over him, and he saw the sky opened, and coming down from it an arangement that was like a great sheet let down by its four corners upon the earth; and on it were all the four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth, and the birds of the sky. And a voice came to him: Rise up, Peter; kiU, and eat. But Peter said: Surely not, Lord; since I have never eaten anything profane and unclean. And the voice spoke to him again: What God has made clean do not you make profane. This happened three times; and immediately the arrangement was taken back up into the sky.
As Peter was wondering to himself over the meaning of the vision he had seen, behold, the men sent by Cornelius had found their way to the house of Simon and stood before the gate, and called out to ask whether Simon, surnamed Peter, were a guest there. And as Peter was still pondering his vision the Spirit said: Behold, here are three men looking for you; rise, and go down, and go along with them without hesitation; because I sent them. Peter came down to the men and said: Here I am, the one you were looking for. What is the reason for your being here? They said: Cornelius the centurion, a man who is righteous and fears God, as is attested by all the Jewish people, was told by a holy angel to invite you to his house and listen to what you have to say. So Peter asked them in and made them his guests.
On the next day he rose up and went with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. And on the day after that he entered Caesarea; and Cornelius was expecting them and had called in all his relatives and his close friends. And at the time when Peter entered, Cornelius went to meet him and threw himself at his feet and did obeisance to him. But Peter raised him and said: Stand up. I myself am also a man. And he went inside, talking with him, and found many gathered together, and said to them: You understand that it is not lawful for a Jewish man to approach or mingle with an alien. But God has shown me that I must not call any person profane or unclean. Therefore I came without objection when I was invited. So I ask, for what reason did you invite me? And Cornelius said: Four days before this time I was praying at the ninth hour in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothes, and said: Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity have come to the attention of God. Send therefore to Joppa and invite Simon, who is surnamed Peter; he is the guest of Simon the tanner, by the sea. So I sent men to you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Here then we are all gathered in the sight of God to hear all that the Lord has commanded you to say.
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: I understand the truth, that God has no favorites, but in any nation he who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. He sent out the word to the sons of Israel, bringing the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all. You know the word that went through all Judaea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: Jesus, from Nazareth, when God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing those who were in the power of the devil, because God was with him. And we are witnesses to all that he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And they killed him by hanging him on the cross. God raised him on the third day and granted that he should become visible, not to all the people but to witnesses who were foreordained by God; to us, who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead; and he told us to preach to the people and testify that this is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. And all the prophets testify to him, that through his name everyone who believes in him shall have forgiveness of his sins.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit descended upon all who were listening to his discourse. And the faithful from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been diffused upon the Gentiles also; for they heard them speaking with tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter spoke forth: Surely no one can forbid the water for the baptism of those who have received the Holy Spirit, as we also have done. And he ordered that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.
IThe apostles and the brothers who were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised took issue with him, saying that he had visited uncircum- cised men and eaten with them. But Peter explained everything in order from the beginning, saying: I was in the city of Joppa, praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: an arrangement like a great sheet let down by its four corners from the sky, and it came close to me. And I gazed at it and studied it, and I saw the four-footed beasts of the earth and the wild animals and the creeping things and the birds of the sky. And I heard a voice saying to me: Rise up, Peter; kill, and eat. But I said: Surely not, Lord; since nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth. But the voice answered me again from the sky: What God has made clean do not you make profane. This happened three times and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. And behold, presently three men stood before the house where we were, sent to me from Caesarea; and the Spirit told me to go along with them without hesitation. These six brothers went with me and we entered the man's house. And he described to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying: Send to Joppa and invite Simon, s^mamed Peter, who will tell you words which will be the salvation of yourself and all your household. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit descended upon them as it did upon us at the outset. And I remembered the words of the Lord, how he said: John baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If, then, God has given them a gift equal to that which he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to stand in the way of God?
When they heard this, they held their peace and glorified God, saying: In truth then, God has granted repentance to the Gentiles, to give them life.