Acts
Acts 15
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Acts 15 — Scripture text (King James Version)
And certain men which came down from taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of , ye cannot be saved. When therefore and had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that and , and certain other of them, should go up to unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought their way by , they passed through and , declaring the conversion of the : and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to , they were received of , and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep of . And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the by my mouth should hear of the , and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy , even as he did unto us; And no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by . Now therefore why tempt ye God, to a upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to ? But we believe that through the of the Lord we shall be saved, even as they. Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to and , declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the by them. And after they had held their peace, answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: hath declared how God at the first did visit the , to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the of , which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the , upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every day. Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to with and ; namely, Judas surnamed , and , chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the in and and : Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep : to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved and , Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord . We have sent therefore and , who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy , and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do . Fare ye . So when they were dismissed, they came to : and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. And and , being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding it pleased to abide there still. also and continued in , teaching and preaching of the Lord, with many others also. And some days after said unto , Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached of the Lord, and see how they do. And determined to take with them , whose surname was . But thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from , and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so took , and sailed unto ; And chose , and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the of God. And he went through and , confirming the churches.