1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the company called the Italian,
2 a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, who gave many alms to the people and prayed to God always.
3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him and saying unto him, Cornelius.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms {lit. thine acts of mercy} are come up for a memorial before God.