Controversy about the Law

15 Then some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can’t be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. ³ They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done through them. ⁵ But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The gentiles^[a] must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶ So the apostles and the elders met to look into this claim. ⁷ After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows everyone’s heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between them and us, because of their faith-cleansed hearts. ¹⁰ So why do you test God by putting on the disciples’ neck a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we could carry? ¹¹ We certainly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[b] that we are saved, just as they are.”

¹² The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles. ¹³ After Paul and Barnabas^[c] had finished speaking, James responded, “Brothers, listen to me: ¹⁴ Simeon^[d] has explained how God first showed his concern for the gentiles by taking from among them a people for his name. ¹⁵ This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,

¹⁹ “Therefore, I have decided that we should not trouble these gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write to them to keep away from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from anything strangled,^[g] and from blood.^{[h] 21} After all, Moses has had people to proclaim him in every city for generations, and on every Sabbath his books are^[i] read aloud in the synagogues.”