1 And some men came down from Judea
2 And
3 So they were sent on their way by the church,
4 And
5 But some of those who had believed from the party of the Pharisees stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command
6 Both the apostles and the elders assembled to deliberate concerning this matter.
7 And
8 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them
9 And he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
10 So now why are you putting God to the test
11 But we believe
12 And the whole group became silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
13 And after they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Men
14 Simeon has described how God first concerned himself to take from among the Gentiles a people for his name.
15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 ‘After these
17 so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord,
18 known from of old.’
19 Therefore I conclude we should not cause difficulty for those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,
20 but we should write a letter to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.
21 For Moses has those who proclaim him in every city from ancient generations,
22 Then it seemed best to the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas who was called Barsabbas and Silas, men
23 writing
24 Because we have heard that some have gone out from among us—to whom we gave no orders—
25 it seemed best to us,
26 men who have risked their lives on behalf of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, and they will report the same
28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us to place on you no greater burden except these necessary things:
30 So
31 And
32 Both Judas and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers by a long message.
33 And
35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord with many others also.
36 And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Come then,
37 Now Barnabas wanted to take John who was called Mark along also,
38 but Paul held the opinion they should not take this one along, who departed from them in Pamphylia and did not accompany them in the work.
39 And a sharp disagreement took place, so that they separated from one another. And Barnabas took along Mark
40 but Paul chose Silas
41 And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.