Acts 15-16

Acts 15

¹Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”

²Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul, Barnabas, and some others of them to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.

³They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.

⁴When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done with them.

⁵But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter.

⁷When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe.

⁸God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us.

⁹He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

¹²All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them.

¹³After they were silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name.

¹⁵This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,

¹⁶‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up

¹⁷that the rest of men may seek after the Lord: all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.’

¹⁸“All of God’s works are known to him from eternity.

¹⁹Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,

²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.

²¹For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers.

²³They wrote these things by their hand: “The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings.

²⁴Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment;

²⁵it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out 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 sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth.

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

²⁹that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”

³⁰So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.

³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement.

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

³³After they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brothers to the apostles.

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

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”

³⁷Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also.

³⁸But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them to do the work.

³⁹Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,

⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God.

⁴¹He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies.

Acts 16

¹He came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek.

²The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.

³Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.

⁵So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

⁶When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

⁷When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.

⁸Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

⁹A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.

¹¹Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.

¹³On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.

¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

¹⁶As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling.

¹⁷Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”

¹⁸She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

²⁰When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city

²¹and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”

²²The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.

²⁴Having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.

²⁷The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,

³⁰brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.

³³He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”

³⁶The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”

³⁸The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.

⁴⁰They went out of the prison and entered into Lydia’s house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, then departed.