ቆርኔሌዎስ ጴጥሮስን አስጠራ
1በቂሳርያ፣ 'የኢጣሊያ ክፍለ ጦር' በሚባለው ሰራዊት ውስጥ የመቶ አለቃ የሆነ ቆርኔሌዎስ የተባለ አንድ ሰው ነበረ። 2እርሱም ከመላው ቤተ ሰቡ ጋር በመንፈሳዊ ነገር የተጋና እግዚአብሔርን የሚፈራ፣ ለሰዎች እጅግ ምጽዋት የሚሰጥ፣ አዘውትሮ ወደ እግዚአብሔር የሚጸልይ ነበር። 3አንድ ቀን፣ ከቀኑ ዘጠኝ ሰዓት ገደማ የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ በራእይ ወደ እርሱ መጥቶ፣ "ቆርኔሌዎስ ሆይ!" ሲለው በግልጽ አየ።
4ቆርኔሌዎስም በድንጋጤ ትኵር ብሎ እያየው፣ "ጌታ ሆይ፤ ምንድን ነው?" አለው።
መልአኩም እንዲህ አለው፤ "ጸሎትህና ምጽዋትህ ለመታሰቢያነት ወደ እግዚአብሔር ፊት አርጎልሃል። 5አሁንም ሰዎች ወደ ኢዮጴ ልከህ ጴጥሮስ የተባለውን ስምዖንን አስመጣው፤ 6እርሱም በባሕሩ አጠገብ ባለው በቍርበት ፋቂው በስምዖን ቤት በእንግድነት ዐርፎአል።"
7ቆርኔሌዎስም፣ ያነጋገረው መልአክ ተለይቶት ከሄደ በኋላ፣ ከአገልጋዮቹ ሁለቱን፣ እንዲሁም በመንፈሳዊ ነገር የተጋና ለእርሱ ታማኝ የሆነውን አንዱን ወታደር አስጠራ፤ 8የሆነውንም ነገር ሁሉ ከነገራቸው በኋላ ወደ ኢዮጴ ላካቸው።
ጴጥሮስ ያየው ራእይ
10፥9-32 ተጓ ምብ – ሐሥ 11፥5-14
9የተላኩትም ሰዎች በማግስቱ ወደ ከተማዪቱ እንደ ተቃረቡ፣ ጴጥሮስ እኩለ ቀን ገደማ ሲሆን፣ ለመጸለይ ወደ ሰገነት ወጣ። 10በዚያን ጊዜም ስለ ተራበ የሚበላ ነገር ፈለገ፤ ምግብ እየተዘጋጀ ሳለም አሸለበውና በተመስጦ ውስጥ ሆነ፤ 11ሰማይም ተከፍቶ አንድ ትልቅ ጨርቅ የሚመስል ነገር በአራቱ ማእዘን ተይዞ ወደ ምድር ሲወርድ አየ። 12በጨርቁም ላይ አራት እግር ያላቸው የተለያዩ እንስሳት፣ በምድር የሚሳቡ ፍጥረታትና በአየር የሚበሩ አዕዋፍ ነበሩበት። 13በዚህ ጊዜ፣ "ጴጥሮስ ሆይ፤ ተነሣ፤ እነዚህን ዐርደህ ብላ" የሚል ድምፅ ወደ እርሱ መጣ።
14ጴጥሮስ ግን "ጌታ ሆይ፤ ይህማ አይሆንም፤ እኔ ያልተቀደሰ ወይም ርኵስ ነገር ፈጽሞ በልቼ አላውቅምና" አለ።
15ያም ድምፅ እንደ ገና ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ወደ እርሱ መጥቶ፣ "እግዚአብሔር ንጹሕ ያደረገውን አንተ እንደ ርኵስ አትቍጠረው" አለው።
16ይህም ሦስት ጊዜ ተደጋገመ፤ ጨር ቁም ወዲያውኑ ወደ ሰማይ ተወሰደ።
17ጴጥሮስም ስላየው ራእይ ትርጒም እጅግ ተጨንቆ በማሰላሰል ላይ ሳለ፣ ቆርኔሌዎስ የላካቸው ሰዎች የስምዖንን ቤት ፈልገው ካገኙ በኋላ መጥተው በሩ ላይ ቆሙ፤ 18ድምፃቸውንም ከፍ አድርገው ጴጥሮስ የተባለው ስምዖን እዚያ ይኖር እንደሆነ ጠየቁ።
19ጴጥሮስ የራእዩን ነገር በማሰላሰል ላይ ሳለ፣ መንፈስ እንዲህ አለው፤ "እነሆ፤ ሦስት10፥19 አንድ የጥንት ቅጅ ሁለት ይላል፤ ሌሎች የጥንት ቅጆች ይህ ቍጥር የላቸውም። ሰዎች ይፈልጉሃል፤ 20ስለዚህ ተነሥተህ ውረድ፤ የላክኋቸውም እኔ ስለ ሆንሁ ሳትጠራጠር ከእነርሱ ጋር ሂድ።"
21ጴጥሮስም ወርዶ፣ "እነሆ፤ የምትፈልጉት ሰው እኔ ነኝ፤ የመጣችሁበት ጒዳይ ምንድን ነው?" አላቸው።
22ሰዎቹ፣ "የመጣነው ቆርኔሌዎስ ከተባለው መቶ አለቃ ዘንድ ነው፤ እርሱም ጻድቅና እግዚአብሔርን የሚፈራ፣ በአይሁድም ሕዝብ ሁሉ ዘንድ የተከበረ ሰው ነው። አንተን ወደ ቤቱ እንዲያስመጣህና የምትለውን እንዲሰማ ቅዱስ መልአክ ነግሮታል" አሉት። 23ጴጥሮስም ሰዎቹን ሊያስተናግዳቸው ወደ ቤት አስገባቸው።
ጴጥሮስ በቆርኔሌዎስ ቤት
ጴጥሮስም በማግስቱ ተነሥቶ ከእነርሱ ጋር ሄደ፤ ከኢዮጴ የመጡ አንዳንድ ወንድሞችም አብረውት ሄዱ፤ 24በሚቀጥለው ቀን ቂሳርያ ገባ። ቆርኔሌዎስም ዘመዶቹንና የቅርብ ወዳጆቹን ሰብስቦ ይጠብቃቸው ነበር። 25ጴጥሮስም ወደ ቤቱ በገባ ጊዜ ቆርኔሌዎስ ተቀበለው፤ እግሩም ላይ ወድቆ ሰገደለት። 26ጴጥሮስ ግን፣ "እኔም እንዳንተው ሰው ነኝና ተነሥ!" ብሎ አስነሣው።
27ጴጥሮስም እያነጋገረው አብሮት ሲገባ ብዙ ሰው ተሰብስቦ አገኘ፤ 28እንዲህም አላቸው፤ "አንድ አይሁዳዊ ከሌላ ወገን ጋር እንዲተባበር ወይም እንዲቀራረብ ሕጋችን እንደማይፈቅድ ራሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁ፤ ነገር ግን እኔ ማንንም ርኵስ ወይም ያልተቀደሰ ነው እንዳልል እግዚአብሔር አሳይቶኛል፤ 29ስለዚህም በተጠራሁ ጊዜ፣ እነሆ ሳላመነታ መጣሁ፤ እንግዲህ፣ ለምን እንደጠራችሁኝ ማወቅ እፈልጋለሁ።"
30ቆርኔሌዎስም እንዲህ አለው፤ "ከአራት ቀን በፊት በዚህ ጊዜ ከቀኑ በዘጠኝ ሰዓት በቤቴ ሆኜ እጸልይ ነበር፤ ድንገትም ብሩህ ልብስ የለበሰ ሰው መጥቶ በፊቴ ቆመና 31እንዲህ አለኝ፤ 'ቆርኔሌዎስ ሆይ፤ ጸሎትህ ተሰምቶልሃል፤ ምጽዋትህም ለመታሰቢያነት በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ደርሶአል። 32ሰዎችን ወደ ኢዮጴ ልከህ ጴጥሮስ የተባለውን ስምዖንን አስመጣ፤ እርሱም በባሕር አጠገብ ባለው በቍርበት ፋቂው በስምዖን ቤት በእንግድነት ዐርፎአል።' 33እኔም ወዲያው ላኩብህ፤ አንተም በመምጣትህ መልካም አድርገሃል። እንግዲህ እኛ ሁላችን ጌታ ያዘዘህን ስትነግረን ለመስማት በእግዚአብሔር ፊት አለን።
34ጴጥሮስም እንዲህ ሲል መናገር ጀመረ፤ "እግዚአብሔር ለማንም እንደማያዳላ በርግጥ ተረድቻለሁ፤ 35ነገር ግን እርሱን የሚፈሩትንና ጽድቅን የሚያደርጉትን ሁሉ ከየትኛውም ወገን ቢሆኑ ይቀበላቸዋል። 36እግዚአብሔር፣ የሁሉ ጌታ በሆነው በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በኩል የላከውም የሰላም የምሥራች መልእክት ይኸው ነው። 37ዮሐንስ ከሰበከው ጥምቀት በኋላ ከገሊላ ጀምሮ በመላው ይሁዳ የሆነውን ታውቃላችሁ፤ 38እግዚአብሔር የናዝሬቱን ኢየሱስ በመንፈስ ቅዱስና በኀይል ቀባው፤ እርሱም እግዚአብሔር ከእርሱ ጋር ስለ ነበረ በደረሰበት ሁሉ መልካም እያደረገ በዲያብሎስ ሥልጣን ሥር የነበሩትን ሁሉ ፈወሰ።
39"እርሱ በአይሁድ አገርና በኢየሩሳሌም ላደረገው ሁሉ እኛ ምስክሮች ነን፤ ደግሞም ሰዎች እርሱን በዕንጨት ላይ ሰቅለው ገደሉት። 40እግዚአብሔር ግን በሦስተኛው ቀን ከሙታን አስነሣው፤ እንዲታይም አደረገው፤ 41የታየውም ለሁሉ ሰው ሳይሆን፣ ከሙታን ከተነሣ በኋላ አብረነው ለበላንና ለጠጣን፣ እግዚአብሔርም አስቀድሞ ለመረጠን ለእኛ ለምስክሮቹ ነው። 42ለሕዝቡ እንድንሰብክና በሕያዋንና በሙታንም ላይ እንዲፈርድ እግዚአብሔር የሾመው እርሱ መሆኑን እንድንመሰክር እርሱ ራሱ አዘዘን፤ 43በእርሱም የሚያምን ሁሉ በስሙ የኀጢአትን ስርየት እንደሚቀበል ነቢያት ሁሉ ይመሰክሩለታል።"
44ጴጥሮስ ይህን እየተናገረ ሳለ፣ ቃሉን በሰሙት ሁሉ ላይ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ወረደባቸው። 45ከጴጥሮስ ጋር የመጡት፣ ከተገረዙት ወገን የሆኑት አማኞች፣ የመንፈስ ቅዱስ ስጦታ በአሕዛብም ላይ ደግሞ መፍሰሱን ሲያዩ ተገረሙ፤ 46ይኸውም በልሳን10፥46 ወይም በሌላ ቋንቋዎች ሲናገሩና እግዚአብሔርን ሲያመሰግኑ ስለ ሰሟቸው ነው።
በዚያ ጊዜ ጴጥሮስ እንዲህ አለ፤ 47"እነዚህ ሰዎች እንደ እኛ መንፈስ ቅዱስን ስለ ተቀበሉ፣ እንግዲህ በውሃ እንዳይጠመቁ የሚከለክላቸው ማን ነው?" 48ስለዚህ በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እንዲጠመቁ አዘዛቸው። ከዚህ በኋላ፣ ጴጥሮስ ጥቂት ቀን ከእነርሱ ጋር እንዲቀመጥ ለመኑት።
Cornelius calls for Peter
1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, 'Cornelius!'
4Cornelius stared at him in fear. 'What is it, Lord?' he asked.
The angel answered, 'Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.'
7When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
Peter's vision
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'
14'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.'
15The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Simon, three10:19 One early manuscript two; other manuscripts do not have the number. men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.'
21Peter went down and said to the men, 'I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?'
22The men replied, 'We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.' 23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Peter at Cornelius' house
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26But Peter made him get up. 'Stand up,' he said, 'I am only a man myself.'
27While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28He said to them: 'You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?'
30Cornelius answered: 'Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31and said, "Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea." 33So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.'
34Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39'We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.'
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues10:46 Or other languages and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47'Surely no-one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.' 48So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.