Act 1:14-26, 15:1-29 | ESV | STEP | All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer , together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus , and his brothers .

14 All these ^awith one accord ^bwere devoting themselves to prayer, together with ^cthe women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ^dhis brothers. ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church; also verse 15}

15 In those days Peter stood up among ^fthe brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, ^gthe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^hwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For ⁱhe was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ^jthis ministry.” 18 (Now this man ^kacquired a field with ^lthe reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong ^{▼▼Or swelling up} he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called ⁿin their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

^o“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and

^p“‘Let another take his office.’
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during ^qall the time that the Lord Jesus ^rwent in and out among us, 22 ^sbeginning from the baptism of John until the day when ^the was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us ^ua witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called ^vBarsabbas, who was also called ^wJustus, and ^xMatthias. 24 And ^ythey prayed and said, “You, Lord, ^zwho know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in ^aathis ministry and ^abapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Acts 15:1-29

The Jerusalem Council

1 ^acBut some men came down from Judea and were teaching ^adthe brothers, “Unless you are ^aecircumcised ^afaccording to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and ^agdebate with them, Paul and Barnabas and ^ahsome of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to ^aithe apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, ^ajbeing sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, ^akdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and ^albrought great joy to all ^amthe brothers. ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22} 4 ^aoWhen they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and ^apthe apostles and the elders, and ^aqthey declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to ^arthe party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ^as“It is necessary ^atto circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

6 ^auThe ^avapostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much ^awdebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, ^axthat by my mouth the Gentiles should hear ^aythe word of ^azthe gospel and believe. 8 And God, ^bawho knows the heart, ^bbbore witness to them, ^bcby giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and ^bdhe made no distinction between us and them, ^behaving cleansed their hearts ^bfby faith. 10 Now, therefore, why ^bgare you putting God to the test ^bhby placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples ^bithat neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we ^bjbelieve that we will be ^bksaved through ^blthe grace of the Lord Jesus, ^bmjust as they will.”

12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul ^bnas they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, ^boJames replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 ^bpSimeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ^bqa people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

16 ^br“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant ^{▼▼Or rest} of mankind ^btmay seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles ^buwho are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 ^bvknown from of old.’
19 Therefore ^bwmy judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^bxturn to God, 20 but should write to them ^byto abstain from ^bzthe things polluted by idols, and from ^casexual immorality, and from ^cbwhat has been strangled, and from ^ccblood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^cdfor he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then it seemed good to ^cethe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called ^cfBarsabbas, and ^cgSilas, leading men among ^chthe brothers, 23 with the following letter: ^ci“The brothers, both ^cjthe apostles and the elders, to the brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36} who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, ^clgreetings. 24 Since we have heard that ^cmsome persons have gone out from us and ^cntroubled you ^{▼▼Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you} with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come ^cpto one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our ^cqbeloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 ^crmen who have ^csrisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent ^ctJudas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good ^cuto the Holy Spirit and ^cvto us ^cwto lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 ^cxthat you abstain from ^cywhat has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”