Acts 15

₁There were some people who came from Judea to the city of Antioch in the province of Syria. They told the believers that they must be circumcised. They said if someone was not circumcised as the laws of Moses said, then God could not save him. ₂Paul and Barnabas said that that was wrong. They argued with these people who came from Judea. Then the church in Antioch decided to send Paul and Barnabas and some other people from the church to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They had to go and talk to them about the things that the people of Judea said. ₃The church in Antioch sent Paul, Barnabas and the others on their way. Paul and the other men went through the land of Phoenicia and the province of Samaria. They told the believers that a lot of Gentiles had turned their lives to God and started to live as He wants. When they told the believers this, they were very happy. ₄When they came to Jerusalem the apostles, the elders and the congregation welcomed Paul and Barnabas and the other believers from the congregation of Antioch. Then Paul and Barnabas told the believers of the congregation in Jerusalem about the things that God had helped them do. ₅But some of the believers, who had been Pharisees before they started to believe in Christ, were not happy. They said: ‘The Gentiles who start to believe in Christ must be circumcised. You must tell them that they must also do what the laws of Moses say.’

₆The apostles and elders of the church talked about this. ₇After they had argued a lot, Peter got up and he started to talk to them. He said: ‘Friends, you know that God chose me a long time ago to tell the Good_News to the Gentiles so that they could hear about Him and start to believe in the Lord. ₈God knows what every person thinks and what is really in his heart. God also gave the Holy_Spirit to the Gentiles, the same as He gave to us. When God did this, He showed that it was He who was working in them. ₉God did not think that we Jews are better than the Gentiles. He also made them pure when He helped them believe in Christ.

₁₀You must not test God and make Him angry. Do not make it difficult for the believers who are Gentiles. Do not put a yoke on their necks. You know that we and our forefathers could not obey all these laws. It was too difficult for us. ₁₁No, we believe that God saves us in the same way that He saves the Gentiles, because the Lord Jesus gives us his grace.’

₁₂Everyone was quiet and they listened to Barnabas and Paul when they told them how God had given them power to do miracles and signs for the Gentiles. ₁₃When Barnabas and Paul had finished speaking, James said: ‘Friends, listen to me. ₁₄Simon has told us how God showed that He also accepts the Gentiles and that He also chose some of them to be his people who belong to Him. ₁₅The prophets said the same as Simon. They wrote:

₁₉That is why I think we must not make it difficult for the Gentiles who turned to God and started to live as He wants them to live. ₂₀No, we must write them a letter and tell them not to eat food that was sacrificed to idols. They must not live immorally and they must not eat meat if the blood is still in it, like the meat of animals that were strangled, and they must not eat blood.

₂₁Because from a long time ago people have taught the laws of Moses in every town and they have read the laws of Moses in the synagogues every Sabbath day.’

₂₂The apostles and elders and all the believers of the church in Jerusalem decided to choose men and to send them with Paul and Barnabas to the city of Antioch. The men that they chose were leaders in the church. They were Judas and Silas. Judas had another name, Barsabbas. ₂₃The apostles and elders wrote a letter and they sent it with Judas and Silas. In the letter they wrote: ‘We, the apostles and elders, are your brothers. We write this letter to the believers who were Gentiles. We write to the believers in the city of Antioch in Syria, and the provinces of Syria and Cilicia, and we send greetings to you.

₂₄Someone has told us that some people from here in Jerusalem went to you and said things that are not_true, and that they have confused you. We did not send them to you. ₂₅So we have decided to choose a few men and send them to you with our good friends, Barnabas and Paul. ₂₆They almost died when people wanted to kill them because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. ₂₇We also send Judas and Silas. They will tell you the same things that we have written in this letter.

₂₈The Holy_Spirit and we have decided that we must not make it difficult for you to live for God. There are only 4 important things that you must remember: ₂₉You must not eat food that was sacrificed to idols, you must not eat blood, you must not eat the meat of animals that were strangled and you must not live immorally. If you don't do any of these things, you will be right. Greetings to all the believers.’

₃₀The 4 men went away from the believers in Jerusalem. They were Judas, Silas, Barnabas and Paul. They went to the town of Antioch in the province of Syria. When they got there, they called all the believers to come together and they gave the letter to them. ₃₁When the believers read the letter, they were very happy about it and the words encouraged them. ₃₂Judas and Silas were prophets. They talked to the believers and encouraged them and helped them to believe more. _33-34Judas and Silas stayed in Antioch for some time. Then the believers in Antioch sent them back home and they sent greetings to the believers in Jerusalem who had sent them. ₃₅But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch for a long time. They and many other believers taught the church and talked to them about the Good_News of the Word of the Lord.

₃₆After some time, Paul said to Barnabas: ‘We must go back to see how the believers are in all the towns where we have preached the message of the Lord.’

₃₇Barnabas wanted to take John, whose other name was Mark, with them. ₃₈But Paul did not want to take John with them because John had gone away from them the first time they were in the province of Pamphylia. He had stopped working with them and he had gone home. ₃₉Paul and Barnabas started to argue and then each of them went his own way. Barnabas took John Mark with him and they sailed to the Island of Cyprus. ₄₀Paul chose Silas to go with him. The believers prayed that God would be good to Paul and Silas, and then the 2 of them went away. ₄₁They went to the churches in Syria and Cilicia and they encouraged the believers.