Acts 15 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Jerusalem Council

15^aSome men came down from Judea and began teaching ^bthe brothers, “Unless you are ^ccircumcised according to ^dthe custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ²And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^adebate with them, ^bthe brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^capostles and elders concerning this issue. ³Therefore, being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^crecounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers. ⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported all that God had done with them. ⁵But some of ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶^aBoth the apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter. ⁷And after there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ¹in the early days ^bGod made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^cthe gospel and believe. ⁸“And God, ^awho knows the heart, testified to them ^bgiving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹and ^aHe made no distinction between us and them, ^bcleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰“Now therefore why do you ^aput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹“But we believe that we are saved through ^athe grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating what ^bsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³Now after they had stopped speaking, ^aJames answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴“^aSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵“And with this the words of ^athe Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶‘^aAfter these things ^bI will return,And I will rebuild the ^cfallen ¹booth of David,And I will rebuild its ruins,And I will restore it,¹⁷^aSo that the rest of ¹mankind may seek the Lord,And all the Gentiles ²^,^bwho are called by My name,’¹⁸^aSays the ¹Lord, who ²^,^bmakes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹“Therefore ^aI judge 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 ^athings contaminated by idols and from ^bsexual immorality and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood. ²¹“For from ancient generations, ^aMoses has those who preach him in every city, 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—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^bSilas, leading men among ^cthe brothers—to send to ^dAntioch with Paul and Barnabas, ²³and they ¹sent this letter by them, “^aThe apostles and the brothers who are elders, to ^bthe brothers in ^cAntioch and ^dSyria and ^eCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^fgreetings. ²⁴“Since we have heard that ^asome of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and ^bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, ²⁵^ait seemed good to us, having ¹come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶men who have ¹^,^arisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷“Therefore we have sent ^aJudas and ^bSilas, and they themselves will 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 ^bblood and from ^cthings strangled and from ^dsexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, 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. ³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement. ³²^aAnd both Judas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers with a lengthy message. ³³And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them. ³⁴¹[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵But ^aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ¹^,^bpreaching with many others also, ^cthe word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷And Barnabas 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 was 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 brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.