Bible Strands
Acts 10:31
and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — An angel speaks to Cornelius immediately after Cornelius recounts his vision and describes his ninth-hour prayer. The message interrupts Cornelius’s recounting to deliver a direct divine response.
The words — εἰσηκούσθη (eisēkousthē) translates literally as “has been heard,” and προσευχὴ (proseuchē) means “prayer.” Together they form the passive declaration that the prayer received divine attention.
The thread — This announcement pattern appears in Acts 10:4, Daniel 9:23, and Luke 1:13, where angels deliver messages confirming that petitions have reached God. Each instance links angelic communication with the resolution of intercession.
Why it lands — The text states that God has acknowledged Cornelius’s devotion and records his charitable acts, then commands immediate action by directing him to send for Peter. It demands a reader treat divine acknowledgment as a catalyst for obedience, not a conclusion to rest upon.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
Cross-references
- Acts 10:4 Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
- Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of your petitions, an answer went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly precious. So consider the message and understand the vision:
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
- Isaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
- Daniel 10:12 “Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
- Revelation 8:3 Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
- Leviticus 2:9 The priest is to remove the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Revelation 5:8 When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
- Leviticus 2:2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Leviticus 5:12 He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful from it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar atop the food offerings to the LORD; it is a sin offering.