Tuesday in Advent

2Verse 2. On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors. 3Verse 3. Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy— all in Jerusalem who are recorded among the living— 4Verse 4. when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. 5Verse 5. Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a canopy, 6Verse 6. a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and the rain.

1Verse 1. The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2Verse 2. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him 3Verse 3. and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4Verse 4. But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: 5Verse 5. “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me. 6Verse 6. I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7Verse 7. Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’ 8Verse 8. ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9Verse 9. But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10Verse 10. This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. 11Verse 11. Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12Verse 12. The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. 13Verse 13. He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14Verse 14. He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15Verse 15. As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. 16Verse 16. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17Verse 17. So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?” 18Verse 18. When they heard this, they had no further objections, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”