The Jerusalem Council
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.” 2 And 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. 3 Therefore, 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. 4 When 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. 5 But 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 look into this matter. 7 And after there had been much adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in 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; 9 and 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.”
12 And 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
13 Now 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 booth of David,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 aSo that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles bwho are called by My name,’
18 aSays the Lord, who 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, 20 but 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 he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
22 Then 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, 23 and they sent 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 come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have 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:
29 that you abstain from athings sacrificed to idols and from ablood and from athings strangled and from asexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So when they were sent away, athey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 aAnd both Judas and bSilas, also being cprophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened dthe brothers with a lengthy message. 33 And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ain peace to those who had bsent them. 34 [But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] 35 But aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and bpreaching with many others also, cthe word of the Lord.
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36 Now 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.” 37 And Barnabas wanted to take aJohn, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had adeserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took aMark with him and sailed away to bCyprus. 40 But Paul chose aSilas and left, being bcommitted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through aSyria and bCilicia, strengthening the churches.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
Now Paul also arrived at aDerbe and at aLystra. And behold, a disciple was there, named bTimothy, the son of a cJewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by athe brothers who were in bLystra and cIconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he atook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering athe decrees which had been decided upon by bthe apostles and celders who were in Jerusalem, for them to keep. 5 So athe churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were babounding in number daily.
The Macedonian Vision
6 And they passed through the aPhrygian and bGalatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in cAsia; 7 and after they came to aMysia, they were trying to go into bBithynia, and the cSpirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by aMysia, they came down to bTroas. 9 aAnd a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of bMacedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when he had seen athe vision, immediately bwe sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to cproclaim the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 So setting sail from aTroas, we ran ba straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to aPhilippi, which is a leading city of the district of bMacedonia, ca Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on athe Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and sitting down, we began speaking to the women who had assembled. 14 And a woman named Lydia, from the city of aThyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ba worshiper of God, was listening, whose heart the Lord copened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and aher household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Now it happened that as we were going to athe place of prayer, a servant-girl having ba spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of athe Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ain the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” And it left at that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of aprofit had left, they seized bPaul and Silas and cdragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and aare proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being bRomans.” 22 And the crowd joined together to attack them, and the chief magistrates, tearing their garments off of them, proceeded to order them to be abeaten with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted them with many wounds, they threw them into prison, commanding athe jailer to guard them securely, 24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in athe stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 But about midnight aPaul and Silas were praying and bsinging hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly athere came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the jailhouse were shaken; and immediately ball the doors were opened and everyone’s cchains were unfastened. 27 And when athe jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about bto kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before aPaul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, awhat must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “aBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and byour house.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. 33 And he took them athat very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with ahis whole household, because he had believed in God.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And athe jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go bin peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, amen who are Romans, they have thrown us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. aThey were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept requesting them ato leave the city. 40 And they went out of the prison and entered the house of aLydia, and when they saw bthe brothers, they encouraged them and left.