Acts 14 - 15 — Legacy Standard Bible

In Iconium

14Now it happened that in ^aIconium ^bthey entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke in such a manner ^cthat a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^dGreeks. ²But ^athe ¹^,^bunbelieving Jews instigated and embittered the ²minds of the Gentiles against ^cthe brothers. ³Therefore they spent a long time there ^aspeaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ¹^,^bsigns and wonders be done through their hands. ⁴^aBut the multitude of the city was divided; and some ¹sided with ^bthe Jews, and some with ^cthe apostles. ⁵And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^athe Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to ^bstone them, ⁶they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^aLycaonia, ^bLystra and ^cDerbe, and the surrounding region; ⁷and there they continued to ^aproclaim the gospel.

In Lystra and Derbe

⁸And at ^aLystra ^ba man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, ^awhen he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had ^bfaith to be ¹saved from being lame, ¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” ^aAnd he leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^aLycaonian language, “^bThe gods have become like men and have come down to us.” ¹²And they began calling Barnabas, ¹Zeus, and Paul, ²Hermes, because he was ³the chief speaker. ¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was ¹just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^awas wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴But when ^athe apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^btore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^amen of the same nature as you, ^bproclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these ¹^,^cvain things to a ^dliving God, ^ewho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶“¹In the generations gone by He ^apermitted all the ²nations to ^bgo their own ways; ¹⁷and yet ^aHe did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^bgave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But ^aJews came from ^bAntioch and ^cIconium, and after winning over the crowds and ^dstoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰But while ^athe disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^bDerbe. ²¹And after they had ^aproclaimed the gospel to that city and had ^bmade many disciples, they returned to ^cLystra and to ^dIconium and to ^eAntioch, ²²strengthening the souls of ^athe disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^bthe faith, and saying, “^cThrough many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³And when ^athey had appointed ^belders for them in every church, having ^cprayed with fasting, they ^dcommended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

The Return to Antioch

²⁴And when they passed through ^aPisidia, they came into ^bPamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in ^aPerga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶And from there they sailed to ^aAntioch, from ^bwhere they had been ^ccommitted to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^areport all things that God had done with them and ¹how He had opened a ^bdoor of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they spent not a little time with ^athe disciples.

The Jerusalem Council

15^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.” ²And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension 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. ³Therefore, being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^crecounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers. ⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported all that God had done with them. ⁵But some of ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶^aBoth the apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter. ⁷And after there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ¹in 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; ⁹and ^aHe made no distinction between us and them, ^bcleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰“Now therefore why do you ^aput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our fathers 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.”

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating what ^bsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³Now after they had stopped speaking, ^aJames answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴“^aSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵“And with this the words of ^athe Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶‘^aAfter these things ^bI will return,And I will rebuild the ^cfallen ¹booth of David,And I will rebuild its ruins,And I will restore it,¹⁷^aSo that the rest of ¹mankind may seek the Lord,And all the Gentiles ²^,^bwho are called by My name,’¹⁸^aSays the ¹Lord, who ²^,^bmakes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹“Therefore ^aI judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from ^athings contaminated by idols and from ^bsexual immorality and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood. ²¹“For from ancient generations, ^aMoses has those who preach him in every city, since ¹he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to ^athe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^bSilas, leading men among ^cthe brothers—to send to ^dAntioch with Paul and Barnabas, ²³and they ¹sent this letter by them, “^aThe apostles and the brothers who are elders, to ^bthe brothers in ^cAntioch and ^dSyria and ^eCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^fgreetings. ²⁴“Since we have heard that ^asome of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and ^bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, ²⁵^ait seemed good to us, having ¹come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶men who have ¹^,^arisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷“Therefore we have sent ^aJudas and ^bSilas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸“For ^ait seemed good to ^bthe Holy Spirit and to ^cus to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: ²⁹that you abstain from ^athings sacrificed to idols and from ^bblood and from ^cthings strangled and from ^dsexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, ^athey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ¹congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement. ³²^aAnd both Judas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers with a lengthy message. ³³And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them. ³⁴¹[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵But ^aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ¹^,^bpreaching with many others also, ^cthe word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷And Barnabas wanted to take ^aJohn, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^adeserted them ¹in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^aMark with him and sailed away to ^bCyprus. ⁴⁰But Paul chose ^aSilas and left, being ^bcommitted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.