Acts 15–16

The Council at Jerusalem

¹⁵Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”^{* 2}And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.^{* 3}So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters.^{* 4}When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.^{* 5}But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. ⁷After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,^a you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.^{* 8}And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us,^{* 9}and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.^{* 10}Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?^{* 11}On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”^*

¹²The whole assembly kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.^{* 13}After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers,^b listen to me.^{* 14}Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. ¹⁵This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,

¹⁶‘After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;

from its ruins I will rebuild it,

and I will set it up,^*

¹⁷so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—

even all the gentiles over whom my name has been called.

Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things ¹⁸known from long ago.’^c

¹⁹“Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from whatever has been strangled^d and from blood.^{* 21}For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every Sabbath in the synagogues.”^*

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

²²Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, ²³with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers and sisters of gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. ²⁴Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds,^{e* 25}we have decided unanimously to choose men and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{* 27}We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: ²⁹that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^f and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”^*

³⁰So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹When they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. ³²Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers and sisters. ³³After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers and sisters to those who had sent them.^{g* 35}But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”^{* 37}Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.^{* 38}But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.^{* 39}The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. ⁴⁰But Paul chose Silas and set out, the brothers and sisters commending him to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.^*

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

¹⁶Paul^h went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.^{* 2}He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.^{* 4}As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.^{* 5}So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.^*

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.^{* 7}When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;^{* 8}so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.^{* 9}During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”^{* 10}When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.^*

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹We thereforeⁱ set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,^{* 12}and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.^{* 13}On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^j there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.^*

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.^{* 17}While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you^k the way of salvation.”^{* 18}She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.^{* 20}When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city^{* 21}and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.^{* 23}After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.^{* 24}Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^*

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.^{* 26}Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.^{* 27}When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.^{* 28}But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹The jailer^l called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^{* 31}They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”^{* 32}They spoke the word of the Lord^m to him and to all who were in his house. ³³At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.^*

³⁵When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶And the jailer reported the…