Acts 15:1–11

The Jerusalem Council

15^yBut some men came down from Judea and were teaching ^zthe brothers, “Unless you are ^acircumcised ^baccording to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ²And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and ^cdebate with them, Paul and Barnabas and ^dsome of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to ^ethe apostles and the elders about this question. ³So, ^fbeing sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, ^gdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and ^hbrought great joy to all ⁱthe brothers.^{1 4j}When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and ^kthe apostles and the elders, and ^gthey declared all that God had done with them. ⁵But some believers who belonged to ^lthe party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ^m“It is necessary ⁿto circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

^6oThe ^kapostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. ⁷And after there had been much ^pdebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, ^qthat by my mouth the Gentiles should hear ^rthe word of ^sthe gospel and believe. ⁸And God, ^twho knows the heart, ^ubore witness to them, ^vby giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ⁹and ^whe made no distinction between us and them, ^xhaving cleansed their hearts ^yby faith. ¹⁰Now, therefore, why ^zare you putting God to the test ^aby placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples ^bthat neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹But we ^cbelieve that we will be ^dsaved through ^ethe grace of the Lord Jesus, ^wjust as they will.”