Acts 15:36–16:5

Paul and Barnabas Separate

³⁶Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit our brothers and sisters in every town where we preached the word of the Lord, and let us find out how they are getting on.” ³⁷Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, ^38*but Paul did not think it was right to take him, because he had not stayed with them to the end of their mission, but had turned back and left them in Pamphylia. ³⁹There was a sharp argument, and they separated: Barnabas took Mark and sailed off for Cyprus, ⁴⁰while Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the care of the Lord’s grace. ⁴¹He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Timothy Goes with Paul and Silas

16Paul travelled on to Derbe and Lystra, where a Christian named Timothy lived. His mother, who was also a Christian, was Jewish, but his father was a Greek. ²All the believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy. ³Paul wanted to take Timothy along with him, so he circumcised him. He did so because all the Jews who lived in those places knew that Timothy’s father was Greek. ⁴As they went through the towns, they delivered to the believers the rules decided upon by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and told them to obey those rules. ⁵So the churches were made stronger in the faith and grew in numbers every day.