Acts 15:1–41

The Jerusalem Council

^1aSome men came down from Judea and began teaching ^bthe brothers, “Unless you are ^ccircumcised according to ^dthe custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^adebate with them, ^bthe brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^capostles and elders concerning this issue.

³Therefore, being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^crecounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers.

⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported all that God had done with them.

⁵But some of ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

^6aBoth the apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter.

⁷And after there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ¹in the early days ^bGod made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^cthe gospel and believe.

⁸“And God, ^awho knows the heart, testified to them ^bgiving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

⁹and ^aHe made no distinction between us and them, ^bcleansing their hearts by faith.

¹⁰“Now therefore why do you ^aput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

¹¹“But we believe that we are saved through ^athe grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating what ^bsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³Now after they had stopped speaking, ^aJames answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴“^aSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.

¹⁵“And with this the words of ^athe Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶‘^aAfter these things ^bI will return,

And I will rebuild the ^cfallen ¹booth of David,

And I will rebuild its ruins,

And I will restore it,

^17aSo that the rest of ¹mankind may seek the Lord,

And all the Gentiles ^2bwho are called by My name,’

^18aSays the ¹Lord, who ^2bmakes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹“Therefore ^aI judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from ^athings contaminated by idols and from ^bsexual immorality and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood.

²¹“For from ancient generations, ^aMoses has those who preach him in every city, since ¹he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to ^athe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^bSilas, leading men among ^cthe brothers—to send to ^dAntioch with Paul and Barnabas,

²³and they ¹sent this letter by them,

“^aThe apostles and the brothers who are elders, to ^bthe brothers in ^cAntioch and ^dSyria and ^eCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^fgreetings.

²⁴“Since we have heard that ^asome of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and ^bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,

^25ait seemed good to us, having ¹come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶men who have ^1arisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷“Therefore we have sent ^aJudas and ^bSilas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸“For ^ait seemed good to ^bthe Holy Spirit and to ^cus to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

²⁹that you abstain from ^athings sacrificed to idols and from ^bblood and from ^cthings strangled and from ^dsexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, ^athey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ¹congregation together, they delivered the letter.

³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement.

^32aAnd both Judas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers with a lengthy message.

³³And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them.

³⁴¹[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.]

³⁵But ^aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ^1bpreaching with many others also, ^cthe word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

³⁷And Barnabas wanted to take ^aJohn, called Mark, along with them also.

³⁸But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^adeserted them ¹in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^aMark with him and sailed away to ^bCyprus.

⁴⁰But Paul chose ^aSilas and left, being ^bcommitted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.