^aSome men came down from Judea and began teaching ^bthe brothers, “Unless you are ^ccircumcised in accordance with ^dthe custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Gen 17:9-14 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed greatly and ^adebated with them, so it was ^bdetermined that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others from their group would go up to Jerusalem to the ^capostles and the elders and confer with them concerning this issue. 3 So, after being supplied and ^asent on their way by the church, they went through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria ^ctelling in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all ^dthe ¹believers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received warmly by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported to them all the things that God had accomplished through them. 5 But some from ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed in Jesus as the Messiah stood up and said, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise the Gentile converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

6 ^aThe apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter. 7 After a long ^adebate, Peter got 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 message of ^cthe gospel and believe. 8 And God, ^awho knows and understands 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 in Jesus. 10 Now then, why are you ^atesting God by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples which ^bneither our fathers nor we have been able to endure? 11 But we believe that we are saved through ^athe precious, undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life, in just the same way as they are.”

12 All the people remained silent, and they listened attentively to Barnabas and Paul as they ^adescribed all the ^bsigns and wonders (attesting miracles) that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

13 When they had finished speaking, ^1aJames replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 ^1aSimeon (Simon Peter) has described how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name to honor Him and be identified with Him. 15 The words of ^athe Prophets agree with this, just as it is written in Scripture,

19 Therefore it is ^amy judgment that we do not trouble and make it difficult for those who are turning to God among the Gentiles by putting obstacles in their way, 20 but that we write to them that they are to abstain from ^1aanything that has been contaminated by being offered to idols and from ^bsexual impurity and from eating the meat of ^cwhat has been strangled and from the consumption of ²blood. 21 For from ancient generations the writing of ^aMoses has been preached in every city, since ¹he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

22 Then ^athe apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their men to go to ^bAntioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and ^cSilas also called Silvanus, both, leading men among ^dthe brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

30 So when they were sent off, ^athey went down to Antioch; and after assembling the congregation, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, the people rejoiced greatly at the encouragement and comfort it brought them. 32 ^aJudas and ^bSilas, who were themselves ^cprophets (divinely inspired spokesmen) , encouraged and strengthened ^dthe ¹believers with many words. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent back by the brothers ^awith the greeting of peace to those who had ^bsent them. 34 [¹However, Silas decided to stay there.] 35 But ^aPaul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and with many others also continued teaching and ^bproclaiming the good news, ^cthe word of the Lord concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ.

36 After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers and sisters (believers) in ^aevery city where we preached ^bthe message of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take his cousin ^aJohn, who was called Mark, along with them. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along with them the one who had ^aquit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. 39 And it became such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took John ^aMark with him and sailed away to ^bCyprus. 40 But Paul chose ^aSilas who was again in Antioch and set out on his second journey, ^bcommended by the brothers to the grace and favor of the Lord. 41 And he traveled through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.