¹²And the whole group became silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³And after they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Men and brothers, listen to me! ¹⁴Simeon has described how God first concerned himself to take from among the Gentiles a people for his name. ¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

¹⁶‘After these things I will return

and build up again the tent of David that has fallen,

and the parts of it that had been torn down I will build up again

and will restore it,

¹⁷so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord,

even all the Gentiles^c who are called by my name,^d

says the Lord,^e who makes these things ¹⁸known from of old.’^f

¹⁹Therefore I conclude we should not cause difficulty for those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, ²⁰but we should write a letter to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. ²¹For Moses has those who proclaim him in every city from ancient generations, because he^* is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

The Letter from the Council

²²Then it seemed best to the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas who was called Barsabbas and Silas, men who were leaders among the brothers—

Read in Logos

Footnotes

cThe same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context
dLiterally “on whom my name has been called on them”
eA quotation from Amos 9:11–12
fThe last phrase of v. 17 and all of v. 18 is an allusion to Isa 45:21
*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“is read aloud”) which is understood as causal