Acts 15:19–41

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.