Acts 15–16

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.”

¹²And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul ^fas they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³After they finished speaking, ^gJames replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14hSimeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ⁱa people for his name. ¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

^16j“ ‘After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;

I will rebuild its ruins,

and I will restore it,

¹⁷that the remnant² of mankind ^kmay seek the Lord,

and all the Gentiles ^lwho are called by my name,

says the Lord, who makes these things ^18mknown from of old.’

¹⁹Therefore ⁿmy judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^oturn to God, ²⁰but should write to them ^pto abstain from ^qthe things polluted by idols, and from ^rsexual immorality, and from ^swhat has been strangled, and from ^sblood. ²¹For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^tfor he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

²²Then it seemed good to ^uthe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called ^vBarsabbas, and ^wSilas, leading men among ^xthe brothers, ²³with the following letter: ^x“The brothers, both ^uthe apostles and the elders, to the brothers³ who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, ^ygreetings. ²⁴Since we have heard that ^zsome persons have gone out from us and ^atroubled you⁴ with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, ²⁵it has seemed good to us, having come ^bto one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our ^cbeloved Barnabas and Paul, ^26dmen who have ^erisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷We have therefore sent ^fJudas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸For it has seemed good ^gto the Holy Spirit and ^hto us ⁱto lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: ^29jthat you abstain from ^kwhat has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. ³²And Judas and Silas, who were themselves ^lprophets, encouraged and ^mstrengthened ⁿthe brothers with many words. ³³And after they had spent some time, they were sent off ^oin peace by ⁿthe brothers to those who had sent them.^{5 35}But ^pPaul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

³⁶And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit ⁿthe brothers ^qin every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷Now Barnabas wanted to take with them ^rJohn called Mark. ³⁸But Paul thought best not to take with them one ^swho had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹And there arose ^ta sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. ^uBarnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, ⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and departed, ^vhaving been commended by ^wthe brothers to ^xthe grace of the Lord. ⁴¹And he went through Syria and Cilicia, ^ystrengthening the churches.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16Paul¹ came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named ^zTimothy, ^athe son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ²He was well spoken of by ^bthe brothers² at Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^ctook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance ^dthe decisions ^ethat had been reached by ^fthe apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ^5gSo the churches were strengthened in ^hthe faith, and they increased in numbers ⁱdaily.

The Macedonian Call

⁶And ^jthey went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^kthe Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^lto Troas. ⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰And when Paul³ had seen the vision, immediately ^mwe sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹So, setting sail from Troas, we ⁿmade a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to ^oPhilippi, which is a leading city of the⁴ district of Macedonia and ^pa Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³And ^qon the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^rto the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^ssat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^twho was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^uopened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵And after she was baptized, ^vand her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^wprevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶As we were going to ^xthe place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^ya spirit of ^zdivination and ^abrought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, ^bcrying out, “These men are ^cservants of ^dthe Most High God, who proclaim to you ^ethe way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^f“I command you ^gin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^hit came out that very hour.

¹⁹But ⁱwhen her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^jdragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹They ^kadvocate customs that are not lawful for us ^las Romans to accept or practice.” ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^mto beat them with rods. ²³And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴Having received this order, he put them into the inner ⁿprison and fastened their feet in ^othe stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25pAbout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly ^qthere was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^rall the doors were opened, and ^severyone’s bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^twas about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer⁶ called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^ufell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^vwhat must I do to be ^wsaved?” ³¹And they said, ^x“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^yand your household.” ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them ^zthe same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^awas baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^brejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let…