Acts 15:1-41; Acts 16
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1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching
the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught
by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and
Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were
appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the
apostles and elders about this question. 3The church sent them on
their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how
the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4 When
they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and
elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 5 Then
some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and
said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of
Moses." 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this
question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed
them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you
that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and
believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted
them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He
made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now
then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a
yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No!
We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as
they are." 12 The whole assembly became silent as they
listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders
God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they
finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon
has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the
Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets
are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16 " 'After
this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of men may seek the
Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these
things' 18 that have been known for ages.19 "It
is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles
who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them,
telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality,
from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For
Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in
the synagogues on every Sabbath." 22Then the apostles and
elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send
them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and
Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With
them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To
the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 We
have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed
you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all
agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas
and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 27Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas
to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed
good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the
following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food
sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from
sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. 30 The
men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church
together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and
were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who
themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33 After
spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing
of peace to return to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and
Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached
the word of the Lord. 36 Some time later Paul said to
Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we
preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing."37 Barnabas
wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul
did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia
and had not continued with them in the work.39 They had such a
sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for
Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the
brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria
and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple
named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father
was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well
of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he
circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew
that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to
town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in
Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were
strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. 6 Paul
and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of
Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to
enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So
they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the
night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him,
"Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul
had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding
that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From
Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on
to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman
colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there
several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate
to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and
began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of
those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city
of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond
to Paul's message. 15When she and the members of her household were
baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in
the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she
persuaded us. 16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we
were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.
She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This
girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants
of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She
kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned
around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you
to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. 19 When
the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone,
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the
authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and
said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by
advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." 22 The
crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered
them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been
severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to
guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put
them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a
violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all
the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The
jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and
was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.28 But
Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself ! We are all here!" 29 The
jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He
then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They
replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your
household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to
him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the
night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all
his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his
house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to
believe in God--he and his whole family. 35 When it was
daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order:
"Release those men." 36 The jailer told Paul,
"The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can
leave. Go in peace." 37 But Paul said to the officers:
"They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens,
and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No!
Let them come themselves and escort us out." 38 The
officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and
Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to
appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the
city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went
to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then
they left.
