Acts 15

¹And certain men, having come down from Judea, were teaching the brothers that, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'

²And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them to go up to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem concerning this question.

³So they, having been sent on their way by the church, were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, relating in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the brothers.

⁴And when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

⁵But some from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed rose up, saying that it was necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

⁶And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to look into this matter.

⁷And after much debate had taken place, Peter rose up and said to them, 'Men, brothers, you yourselves know that in the early days God chose among you that through my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.'

⁸And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, having given them the Holy Spirit, just as also to us;

⁹and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Now therefore why do you test God, by placing a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we ourselves were able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same way as they are.

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul relating how many signs and wonders God did among the Gentiles through them.

¹³And after they had fallen silent, James answered, saying, 'Men, brothers, listen to me.'

¹⁴Simeon has related how God first concerned himself to take from among the Gentiles a people for his name;

¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

¹⁶After these things I will return and will rebuild the fallen tent of David, and its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it;

¹⁷so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles upon whom my name has been called, says the Lord who does all these things,

¹⁸known to God from of old are all his works.

¹⁹Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God,

²⁰but to write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what is strangled, and from blood.

²¹For Moses, from ancient generations, has in every city those who proclaim him, being read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

²³having written by their hand: 'The apostles and the elders, brothers, to the brothers who are from the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.'

²⁴Since we have heard that some of our number who went out troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, telling you to be circumcised and to keep the law, though we gave them no such instructions,

²⁵it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

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

²⁷We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will themselves tell you the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

²⁹that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

³⁰So they, having been sent off, went down to Antioch, and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.

³¹And having read it aloud, they rejoiced at the encouragement.

³²And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brothers with many words and strengthened them.

³³And having spent some time there, they were sent off in peace from the brothers to those who had sent them.

³⁵But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the good news of the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us return now and visit the brothers in every city in which we have proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are.'

³⁷Now Barnabas wanted to take along John, who was called Mark;

³⁸But Paul thought it best not to take along this one, who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed away to Cyprus.

⁴⁰But Paul, having chosen Silas, went out, having been commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers.

⁴¹And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.