Act 15 | NASB1995 | STEP | Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren , “ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses , you cannot be saved .”

Acts 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 ^{▼▼ Lit not a little}great dissension and ^fdebate with them, ^g the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^hapostles and elders concerning this issue. 3 Therefore, being ⁱsent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^jPhoenicia and Samaria, ^kdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^lthe brethren. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^mthe apostles and the elders, and they ⁿreported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of ^othe sect of the ^pPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^qcircumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

6 ^rThe apostles and the elders came together to ^{▼▼ Lit see about}look into this ^{▼▼ Lit word}matter. 7 After there had been much ^udebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that ^{▼▼ Lit from days of old}in the early days ^wGod made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^xthe gospel and believe. 8 “And God, ^ywho knows the heart, testified to them ^zgiving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and ^aaHe made no distinction between us and them, ^abcleansing their hearts by faith. 10 “Now therefore why do you ^acput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^adneither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 “But we believe that we are saved through ^aethe 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 ^afrelating what ^agsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’s Judgment

13 After they had stopped speaking, ^{▼▼ Or Jacob
,} ^aiJames answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 ^aj“Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 “With this the words of ^akthe Prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 ‘ ^al After these things ^amI will return,
And I will rebuild the ^{▼▼ Or tent} tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 ^ao So that the rest of ^{▼▼ Gr anthropoi} mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles ^{▼▼ Lit upon whom My name is called
,} ^ar who are called by My name,’
18 ^as Says the Lord, who ^{▼▼ Or does these things which were known
,} ^au makes these things known from long ago.

19 “Therefore it is ^avmy 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 ^{▼▼ Lit the pollutions of
,} ^axthings contaminated by idols and from ^ayfornication and from ^azwhat is strangled and from blood. 21 “For ^baMoses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since ^{▼▼ I.e. the books of Moses, Gen through Deut}he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

22 Then it seemed good to ^bcthe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to ^bdAntioch with Paul and Barnabas— Judas called Barsabbas, and ^beSilas, leading men among ^bfthe brethren, 23 and they ^{▼▼ Lit wrote by their hand}sent this letter by them, ^bh“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to ^bithe brethren in ^bjAntioch and ^bkSyria and ^blCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^bmgreetings. 24 “Since we have heard that ^bnsome ^{▼▼ Lit from us}of our number to whom we gave no instruction have ^bpdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, 25 ^bqit seemed good to us, having ^{▼▼ Or met together}become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have ^{▼▼ Lit given over
,} ^btrisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 “Therefore we have sent ^buJudas and ^bvSilas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 “For ^bwit seemed good to ^bxthe Holy Spirit and to ^byus to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from ^bzthings sacrificed to idols and from ^cablood and from ^cbthings strangled and from ^ccfornication; ^{▼▼ Lit from which keeping yourselves free}if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So when they were sent away, ^cethey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ^{▼▼ Or multitude}congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ^{▼▼ Or exhortation}encouragement. 32 ^chJudas and ^ciSilas, also being ^cjprophets themselves, ^{▼▼ Or exhorted}encouraged and strengthened ^clthe brethren with a lengthy message. 33 After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brethren ^cmin peace to those who had ^cnsent them out. 34 [ ^{▼▼ Early mss do not contain this v}But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] 35 But ^cpPaul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and ^cqpreaching with many others also, ^crthe word of the Lord.

Second Missionary Journey

36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in ^csevery city in which we proclaimed ^ctthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take ^cuJohn, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^cvdeserted them ^{▼▼ Lit from}in 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 ^cxMark with him and sailed away to ^cyCyprus. 40 But Paul chose ^czSilas and left, being ^dacommitted by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through ^dbSyria and ^dcCilicia, strengthening the churches.