Acts 15:13-29

New International Version

¹³When they finished, James^(A) spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.^(B) ¹⁵The 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,
¹⁷that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’^[b]^(C)—
¹⁸    things known from long ago.^[c]^(D)

¹⁹“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols,^(E) from sexual immorality,^(F) from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.^(G) ²¹For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”^(H)

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

²²Then the apostles and elders,^(I) with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch^(J) with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas,^(K) men who were leaders among the believers. ²³With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch,^(L) Syria^(M) and Cilicia:^(N)

Greetings.^(O)

²⁴We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.^(P) ²⁵So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶men who have risked their lives^(Q) for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas^(R) to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸It seemed good to the Holy Spirit^(S) and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.^(T) You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

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Footnotes

Acts 15:14 Greek Simeon, a variant of Simon; that is, Peter
Acts 15:17 Amos 9:11,12 (see Septuagint)
Acts 15:18 Some manuscripts things’— / ¹⁸the Lord’s work is known to him from long ago