Then I said: ‘O LORD,
God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying
before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I
confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house,
have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We
have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant
Moses. 'Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying,
'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you
return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are
at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to
the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the
believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how
they are doing.”37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark,
with them,38 but
Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in
Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.39 They had such a sharp
disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,40 but Paul chose Silas
and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.41 He went through Syria and
Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
22 Then
the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their
own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas
(called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With
them they sent the following letter:
The
apostles and elders, your brothers,
To
the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We
have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed
you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all
agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas
and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and
Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond
the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food
sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from
sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So
the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church
together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and
were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who
themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After
spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing
of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [d]35 But
Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached
the word of the Lord.
Certain
people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless
you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be
saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and
debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other
believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this
question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they
traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been
converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When
they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and
elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then
some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and
said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The
apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much
discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time
ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the
message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart,
showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did
to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he
purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to
test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors
have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the
grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The
whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling
about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When
they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has
described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from
the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement
with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After
this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]— 18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It
is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the
Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to
them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual
immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For
the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is
read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
For
we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has
extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant
us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins,
and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.
