Acts 15:13-21

Common English Bible

¹³When Barnabas and Paul also fell silent, James responded, “Fellow believers, listen to me. ¹⁴Simon reported how, in his kindness, God came to the Gentiles in the first place, to raise up from them a people of God. ¹⁵The prophets’ words agree with this; as it is written,

¹⁶After this I will return,
        and I will rebuild David’s fallen tent;
        I will rebuild what has been torn down.
            I will restore it
¹⁷            so that the rest of humanity will seek the Lord,
                even all the Gentiles who belong to me.
The Lord says this, the one who does these things^[a]
¹⁸    known from earliest times.

¹⁹“Therefore, I conclude that we shouldn’t create problems for Gentiles who turn to God. ²⁰Instead, we should write a letter, telling them to avoid the pollution associated with idols, sexual immorality, eating meat from strangled animals, and consuming blood. ²¹After all, Moses has been proclaimed in every city for a long time, and is read aloud every Sabbath in every synagogue.”

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