Acts 15:19–41

¹⁹“Therefore it is ^amy judgment 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 ^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.”

²²Then 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,

²³and 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,

^25ait seemed good to us, having ¹become of one mind, 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, 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:

²⁹that you abstain from ^athings sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; ¹if you keep yourselves free from such things, 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.

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

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

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

³⁴¹But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.

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

Second Missionary Journey

³⁶After 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.”

³⁷Barnabas 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 occurred 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 brethren to the grace of the Lord.

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