The Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God

115 Not (A)unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
Why should the [a]Gentiles say,
(B)“So where is their God?”

(C)But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
(D)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
(E)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

(F)O Israel, trust in the Lord;
(G)He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.

12 The Lord [b]has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 (H)He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.

14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
15 May you be (I)blessed by the Lord,
(J)Who made heaven and earth.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 (K)The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 (L)But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death

116 I (M)love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

(N)The [c]pains of death surrounded me,
And the [d]pangs of Sheol [e]laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”

(O)Gracious is the Lord, and (P)righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your (Q)rest, O my soul,
For (R)the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

(S)For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
I will walk before the Lord
(T)In the land of the living.
10 (U)I believed, therefore I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 (V)I said in my haste,
(W)“All men are liars.”

12 What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
14 (X)I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people.

15 (Y)Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.

16 O Lord, truly (Z)I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, (AA)the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You (AB)the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.

18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the (AC)courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

[f]Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 115:2 nations
  2. Psalm 115:12 has remembered us
  3. Psalm 116:3 Lit. cords
  4. Psalm 116:3 distresses
  5. Psalm 116:3 Lit. found me
  6. Psalm 116:19 Heb. Hallelujah

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And (A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that (C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

So, (D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, (E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: (F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, (G)who knows the heart, [a]acknowledged them by (H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, (I)and made no distinction between us and them, (J)purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God (K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But (L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus [b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had (M)worked through them among the Gentiles. 13 And after they had [c]become silent, (N)James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 14 (O)Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

16 ‘After(P) this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the [d]Lord who does all these things.’

18 [e]“Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore (Q)I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who (R)are turning to God, 20 but that we (S)write to them to abstain (T)from things polluted by idols, (U)from [f]sexual immorality, (V)from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, (W)being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

The Jerusalem Decree

22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named (X)Barsabas,[g] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

23 They wrote this letter by them:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,

To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 Since we have heard that (Y)some who went out from us have troubled you with words, (Z)unsettling your souls, [h]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one [i]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 (AA)men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 (AB)that you abstain from things offered to idols, (AC)from blood, from things strangled, and from (AD)sexual[j] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.

Continuing Ministry in Syria

30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being (AE)prophets also, (AF)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were (AG)sent back with greetings from the brethren to [k]the apostles.

34 [l]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 (AH)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Division over John Mark

36 Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” 37 Now Barnabas [m]was determined to take with them (AI)John called Mark. 38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them (AJ)the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. 39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to (AK)Cyprus; 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, (AL)being [n]commended by the brethren to the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, (AM)strengthening the churches.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Then he came to (AN)Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, (AO)named Timothy, (AP)the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he (AQ)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the (AR)decrees to keep, (AS)which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. (AT)So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

The Macedonian Call

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of (AU)Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in [o]Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the [p]Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they (AV)came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A (AW)man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go (AX)to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia Baptized at Philippi

11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12 and from there to (AY)Philippi, which is the [q]foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of (AZ)Thyatira, who worshiped God. (BA)The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So (BB)she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl (BC)possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters (BD)much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.

But Paul, (BE)greatly [r]annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” (BF)And he came out that very hour. 19 But (BG)when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and (BH)dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, (BI)exceedingly trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes (BJ)and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Saved

25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 (BK)Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately (BL)all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, (BM)“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 So they said, (BN)“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, (BO)he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

Paul Refuses to Depart Secretly

35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the [s]officers, saying, “Let those men go.”

36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned (BP)Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”

38 And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and (BQ)asked them to depart from the city. 40 So they went out of the prison (BR)and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 15:8 bore witness to
  2. Acts 15:11 NU, M omit Christ
  3. Acts 15:13 stopped speaking
  4. Acts 15:17 NU Lord, who makes these things
  5. Acts 15:18 NU (continuing v. 17) known from eternity (of old).
  6. Acts 15:20 Or fornication
  7. Acts 15:22 NU, M Barsabbas
  8. Acts 15:24 NU omits saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”
  9. Acts 15:25 purpose or mind
  10. Acts 15:29 Or fornication
  11. Acts 15:33 NU those who had sent them
  12. Acts 15:34 NU, M omit v. 34.
  13. Acts 15:37 resolved
  14. Acts 15:40 committed
  15. Acts 16:6 The Roman province of Asia
  16. Acts 16:7 NU adds of Jesus
  17. Acts 16:12 Lit. first
  18. Acts 16:18 distressed
  19. Acts 16:35 lictors, lit. rod bearers

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