Outline
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
ACTS 10 NLT
1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army
officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment.
2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was
everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly
to God.
3 One 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!
5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a
man named Simon Peter.
6 He 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,
10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was
being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11 He saw the sky open, and something like
a large sheet was let down by its four corners.
12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals,
reptiles, and birds.
13 Then 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.”
16 The 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,
18 they 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.
20 Get 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.”
23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the
night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from
Joppa.
24They arrived in Caesarea the following day.
Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close
friends.
25 As Peter entered his home, Cornelius
fell at his feet and worshiped him.
26 But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand
up! I’m a human being just like you!”
27 So they talked together and went inside,
where many others were assembled.
28Peter told them, “You know it is against our
laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with
you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or
unclean.
29 So I came without objection as soon as I
was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.”
30Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was
praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon.
Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me.
31 He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has
been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God!
32 Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon
a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives
near the seashore.’
33 So I sent for you at once, and it was
good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the
message the Lord has given you.”
34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly
that God shows no favoritism.
35 In every nation he accepts those who
fear him and do what is right.
36 This is the message of Good News for the
people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord
of all.
37 You know what happened throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism.
38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 “And we apostles are witnesses of all he
did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on
a cross,
40 but God raised him to life on the third
day. Then God allowed him to appear,
41 not to the general public, but to us
whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and
drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere
and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of
all—the living and the dead.
43 He is the one all the prophets testified
about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven
through his name.”
44 Even as Peter was saying these things,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message.
45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter
were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the
Gentiles, too.
46 For they heard them speaking in other
tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked,
47“Can anyone object to their being baptized,
now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”
48 So he gave orders for them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay
with them for several days.
ACTS 11 NLT
1 Soon
the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles
had received the word of God.
2 But
when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized
him.
3 “You
entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.
4 Then
Peter told them exactly what had happened.
5 “I
was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a
trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four
corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.
6 When
I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles,
and birds.
7 And
I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
8 “‘No,
Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have
declared impure or unclean. ’
9 “But
the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has
made it clean.’
10 This
happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up
to heaven.
11 “Just
then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we
were staying.
12 The
Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles.
These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man
who had sent for us.
13 He
told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send
messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.
14 He
will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’
15 “As
I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he
fell on us at the beginning.
16 Then
I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17 And
since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
18 When the others heard this, they stopped
objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also
given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving
eternal life.” 
