Acts 15–16

Chapter 15

The Council at Jerusalem

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

2 And when Paul and Barnabas had 1great dissension and adebate with them, bthe brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the capostles and elders concerning this issue.

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

4 When 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.

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

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

7 After there had been much adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, 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;

9 and 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.”

12 All the people 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’s Judgment

13 After they had stopped speaking, 1aJames answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me.

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

15 “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 1tabernacle of David which has fallen,

And I will rebuild its ruins,

And I will restore it,

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

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

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

19 “Therefore it is amy judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

20 but that we write to them that they abstain from 1athings contaminated by idols and from bfornication and from cwhat is strangled and from blood.

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

22 Then it seemed good to athe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to bAntioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and cSilas, leading men among dthe brethren,

23 and they 1sent this letter by them,

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

24 “Since we have heard that asome 1of our number to whom we gave no instruction have bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,

25 ait seemed good to us, having 1become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

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

27 “Therefore we have sent aJudas and bSilas, who themselves will also 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:

29 that you abstain from athings sacrificed to idols and from ablood and from athings strangled and from afornication; 1if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

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

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

32 aJudas and bSilas, also being cprophets themselves, 1encouraged and strengthened dthe brethren with a lengthy message.

33 After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brethren ain peace to those who had bsent them out.

34 [1But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.]

35 But aPaul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and bpreaching with many others also, cthe word of the Lord.

Second Missionary Journey

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

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

38 But 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.

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

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

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

Chapter 16

The Macedonian Vision

1 Paul came also to aDerbe and to aLystra. And a disciple was there, named bTimothy, the son of a cJewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

2 and he was well spoken of by athe brethren who were in bLystra and cIconium.

3 Paul wanted this man to 1go with him; and he atook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering athe decrees which had been decided upon by bthe apostles and celders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.

5 So athe churches were being strengthened 1in the faith, and were bincreasing in number daily.

6 They passed through the 1aPhrygian and bGalatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in 2cAsia;

7 and after they came to aMysia, they were trying to go into bBithynia, and the cSpirit of Jesus did not permit them;

8 and passing by aMysia, they came down to bTroas.

9 aA vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of bMacedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

10 When he had seen athe vision, immediately bwe sought to 1go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to cpreach the gospel to them.

11 So putting out to sea from aTroas, we ran ba straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;

12 and from there to aPhilippi, which is a leading city of the district of bMacedonia, ca Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.

13 And on athe Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of aThyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ba worshiper of God, was listening; 1and the Lord copened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

15 And when she and aher household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

16 It happened that as we were going to athe place of prayer, a slave-girl having ba spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of athe Most High God, who are proclaiming to you 1the way of salvation.”

18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ain the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very 1moment.

19 But when her masters saw that their hope of aprofit was 1gone, they seized bPaul and Silas and cdragged them into the market place before the authorities,

20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews,

21 and aare proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being bRomans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their 1robes off them and proceeded to order 2them to be abeaten with rods.

23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding athe jailer to guard them securely;

24 1and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in athe 2stocks.

25 But about midnight aPaul and Silas were praying and bsinging hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

26 and suddenly athere came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately ball the doors were opened and everyone’s cchains were unfastened.

27 When athe jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about bto kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before aPaul and Silas,

30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, awhat must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

31 They said, “aBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and byour household.”

32 And they spoke the word of 1the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

33 And he took them athat very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

34 And he brought them into his house and set 1food before them, and rejoiced 2greatly, having believed in God…