^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 after Paul and Barnabas had ¹a heated argument 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, after being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^cdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers and sisters. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, ^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 ¹them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

6 ^aThe apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter. 7 After there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “¹Brothers, you know that ²in 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 Since this is the case, why are you ^aputting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our forefathers 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 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating all the ^bsigns and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

13 After they stopped speaking, ^1aJames responded, saying, “²Brothers, listen to me. 14 ^aSimeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. 15 The words of ^athe Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

19 Therefore, it is ^amy judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from ^1athings contaminated by idols, from ^bacts of sexual immorality, from ^cwhat has been ²strangled, and from blood. 21 For ^afrom ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since ¹he 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 to send to ^bAntioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and ^cSilas, leading men among ^dthe brothers, 23 and they ¹sent this letter with them:

30 So when they were sent away, ^athey went down to Antioch; and after gathering the ¹congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement. 32 ^aJudas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers and sisters with a lengthy message. 33 After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them out.¹ 35 But ^aPaul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and ^bpreaching ^cthe word of the Lord, with many others also.

36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take ^aJohn, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had ^adeserted them ¹in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 Now it turned into 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 after being ^bentrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.