Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^bhe entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant¹ who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion² heard about Jesus, ^che sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^d“He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^eour synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^fdo not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^gsay the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, ^hhe marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ⁱfaith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

11 Soon afterward³ he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, ^khe had compassion on her and ^lsaid to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched ^mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ⁿarise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{4 o}gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and ^pthey glorified God, saying, ^q“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^r“God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

18 ^stThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^uwho is to come, or ^vshall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^uwho is to come, or ^vshall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour ^whe healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^xon many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^ythe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^zlepers⁵ are cleansed, and ^athe deaf hear, ^bthe dead are raised up, ^cthe poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is ^dnot offended by me.”

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus⁶ began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^einto the wilderness to see? ^fA reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? ^gA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (ⁱWhen all the people heard this, and ^jthe tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{7 j}having been baptized with ^kthe baptism of John, 30 ^lbut the Pharisees and ^mthe lawyers ⁿrejected ^othe purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

33 For John the Baptist has come ^peating no bread and ^qdrinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come ^reating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^sa friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet ^twisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 ^uOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 ^vAnd behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^wwiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^xthis man were ^ya prophet, he ^zwould have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^adenarii, and the other fifty. 42 ^bWhen they could not pay, he ^ccancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^dyou gave me no water for my feet, but ^eshe has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 ^fYou gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^gkiss my feet. 46 ^hYou did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, ⁱwhich are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, ^j“Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among⁸ themselves, ^k“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, ^l“Your faith has saved you; ^mgo in peace.”

Peter and Cornelius

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of ^wwhat was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man ^xwho feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 ^yAbout the ninth hour of the day^{1 z}he saw clearly in a vision ^aan angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging ^dwith one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, ^ePeter went up ^fon the housetop about ^gthe sixth hour² to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into ^ha trance 11 and saw ⁱthe heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; ^jfor I have never eaten anything that is ^kcommon or ^lunclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, ^m“What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what ⁿthe vision that he had seen might mean, behold, ^othe men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering ⁿthe vision, ^pthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and ^qaccompany them without hesitation,³ for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and ^rGod-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by ^sa holy angel to send for you to come to his house and ^tto hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and ^usome of ^vthe brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^wfell down at his feet and ^xworshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^y“Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^zto associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^aGod has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

30 And Cornelius said, ^b“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^cthe ninth hour,⁴ and behold, ^da man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, ^eyour prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^fGod ^gshows no partiality, 35 but ^fin every nation anyone who fears him and ^hdoes what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for ⁱthe word that he sent to Israel, ^jpreaching good news of ^kpeace through Jesus Christ (^lhe is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^mbeginning ⁿfrom Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how ^oGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^pwith the Holy Spirit and with ^qpower. He went about doing good and healing all ^rwho were oppressed by the devil, ^sfor God was with him. 39 And ^twe are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^uThey put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but ^vGod raised him on ^wthe third day and made him to ^xappear, 41 ^ynot to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^zwitnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And ^ahe commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^bthat he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^cof the living and the dead. 43 ^dTo him ^eall the prophets bear witness that ^feveryone who believes in him receives ^gforgiveness of sins ^hthrough his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

44 While Peter was still saying these things, ⁱthe Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among ^jthe circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^kthe gift of the Holy Spirit ^lwas poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them ^mspeaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 ⁿ“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^ojust as we have?” 48 And he ^pcommanded them ^qto be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.