Reconciliation with God

10 Now ^(A)while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself ^(B)before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept greatly. ² Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “^(C)We have been unfaithful to our God and have ^[a]married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³ So now ^(D)let’s make a covenant with our God to send away all the wives and ^[b](E)their children, following the counsel of ^[c]my lord and of ^(F)those who fear the commandment of our God; and let it be done ^(G)according to the Law. ⁴ Arise! For this matter is ^[d]your responsibility, but we will be with you; ^(H)be courageous and act.”

⁵ Then Ezra stood and ^(I)made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this ^[e]proposal; so they took the oath. ⁶ Then Ezra ^(J)rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, ^(K)he did not eat bread nor drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. ⁷ So they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that whoever did not come within three days, in accordance with the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be forfeited, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹ So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the public square before the house of God, ^(L)trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Now therefore, ^(M)make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and ^(N)do His will; and ^(O)separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹² Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “It is ^[f]our duty to do exactly as you have said! ¹³ However, there are many people, it is the rainy season, and we are not able to stand in the open. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, because we have done a great wrong in this matter. ¹⁴ Please let our leaders ^[g]represent all the assembly and have all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the ^(P)fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah ^[h]opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

¹⁶ But the exiles did so. And ^[i]Ezra the priest selected men who were the heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they ^[j]convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ And they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

List of Offenders

¹⁸ Now among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of ^(Q)Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ They ^[k]pledged to send away their wives, and being guilty, ^(R)they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt. ²⁰ Of the sons of Immer, there were Hanani and Zebadiah; ²¹ and of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah; ²² and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³ Of the Levites there were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴ Of the singers there was Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵ Of Israel, of the sons of ^(S)Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah; ²⁶ and of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah; ²⁷ and of the sons of ^(T)Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza; ²⁸ and of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai; ²⁹ and of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch and Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth; ³⁰ and of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh; ³¹ and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, ^(U)Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, ³² Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah; ³³ of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei; ³⁴ of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu, ³⁸ Bani, Binnui, Shimei, ³⁹ Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, ⁴⁰ Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹ Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴² Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. ⁴³ Of the sons of ^(V)Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. ⁴⁴ All of these men had married ^(W)foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Cornelius’ Vision

10 Now there was a man in ^(A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(B)called the Italian ^[a]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(C)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(D)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(E)the ^[b]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(F)in a vision ^(G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And he ^(H)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts ^(I)have ascended ^(J)as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to ^(K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named ^(L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his ^[c]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(M)Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(N)Peter went up on ^(O)the ^[d]housetop about ^[e](P)the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he ^(Q)fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw ^(R)the sky opened up, and an ^[f]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and ^[g]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ^[h]kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(S)Lord, for ^(T)I have never eaten anything ^[i]unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(U)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[j]consider unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the ^[k]object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[l]mind as to what ^(V)the vision which he had seen might ^[m]mean, behold, ^(W)the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on ^(X)the vision, ^(Y)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[n]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and ^(Z)accompany them ^[o]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(AA)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(AB)was divinely directed by a ^(AC)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[p](AD)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter in Caesarea

Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and ^(AE)some of ^(AF)the brothers from ^(AG)Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(AH)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[q](AI)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “^(AJ)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(AK)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is ^(AL)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a ^[r]foreigner; and yet ^(AM)God has shown me that I am not to call any person ^[s]unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “^(AN)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(AO)the ^[t]ninth hour; and behold, ^(AP)a man stood before me in shining clothing, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send some men to ^(AQ)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent men to you immediately, and you have ^[u]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34 (AR)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(AS)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(AT)in every nation the one who ^[v](AU)fears Him and ^[w]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(AV)preaching ^[x](AW)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(AX)Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [y]You know of ^(AY)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(AZ)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[z](BA)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(BB)God was with Him. ³⁹ We are ^(BC)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the ^[aa]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on ^[ab](BD)a cross. ^40 (BE)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He ^[ac]be revealed, ^41 (BF)not to all the people, but to ^(BG)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(BH)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(BI)ordered us to ^[ad]preach to the people, and to ^(BJ)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been ^(BK)appointed by God as ^(BL)Judge of the living and the dead. ^43 (BM)All the prophets testify of Him, that through ^(BN)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(BO)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ^[ae]message. ^45 (BP)All the ^[af]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been ^(BQ)poured out on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(BR)speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “^(BS)Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who ^(BT)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(BU)ordered them to be baptized ^(BV)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.