Acts 15:12–22

¹²The whole group was silent as they heard Barnabas and Paul report all the miracles and wonders that God had performed through them among the Gentiles. ¹³When they had finished speaking, James spoke up: “Listen to me, my brothers and sisters! ¹⁴Simon has just explained how God first showed his care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to him. ¹⁵The words of the prophets agree completely with this. As the scripture says:

^16*‘After this I will return, says the Lord,

and restore the kingdom of David.

I will rebuild its ruins

and make it strong again.

^17*And so all the rest of the human race will come to me,

all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own.

^18*So says the Lord, who made this known long ago.’

¹⁹“It is my opinion,” James went on, “that we should not trouble the Gentiles who are turning to God. ^20*Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood. ²¹For the Law of Moses has been read for a very long time in the synagogues every Sabbath, and his words are preached in every town.”

The Letter to the Gentile Believers

²²Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to choose some men from the group and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose two men who were highly respected by the believers, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas,