Acts 15:15-38

¹⁵And that is in harmony with the words of the prophets, where they say —

¹⁶‘After this I will return; And I will rebuild the house of David which has fallen — Its ruins I will rebuild, And will set it up once more;

¹⁷That so the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord — Even all the Gentiles on whom my name has been bestowed.

¹⁸Says the Lord, as he does these things, known from long ago.’

¹⁹In my judgement, therefore, we should not add to the difficulties of those Gentiles who are turning to God,

²⁰but we should write to them to abstain from food that has been polluted by being sacrificed to idols, from impurity, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from blood.

²¹For in every town, for generations past, there have been those who preach Moses, read as he is in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²It was then decided by the apostles and the elders, with the assent of the whole church, to choose some of their number, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. Those chosen were Judas (called Barsabas) and Silas, who were leaders amongst the community.

²³They were bearers of the following letter — ‘The apostles, and the followers who are the church elders, send their greetings to the followers of the Lord of Gentile birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

²⁴As we had heard that some of our number had upset you by their assertions, and unsettled your minds — without instructions from us —

²⁵We met and decided to choose certain men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

²⁷We are accordingly sending Judas and Silas, and they will tell you by word of mouth what we are now writing.

²⁸We have, therefore, decided, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lay no further burden on you beyond these necessary conditions —

²⁹That you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from impurity. If you guard yourselves against such things, it will be well with you. Farewell.’

³⁰So the bearers of this letter were sent on their way, and went down to Antioch. There they called a meeting of all the followers,

³¹and delivered the letter, the reading of which caused great rejoicing by its encouraging contents.

³²Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, further encouraged the them by many an address, and strengthened their faith.

³³After some stay, they were dismissed with kind farewells from the followers, and returned to those who had sent them.

³⁵Paul and Barnabas, however, remained in Antioch, where they taught and, with the help of many others, told the good news of the Lord's message.

³⁶Some time after this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the Lord's followers in every town in which we have told the Lord's message, and see how they are prospering.”

³⁷Barnabas wished to take with them John, whose other name was Mark;

³⁸but Paul felt that they ought not to take with them the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with them to their work.