Book of Common Prayer

15 ¹ And certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brothers that “Unless you are circumcised by the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved”. ² And no small dispute and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them having taken place, they^[a] appointed^[b] Paul and Barnabas and some others of them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this issue. ³ So indeed the ones, having been sent-forward by the church, were going through both Phoenicia and Samaria describing-in-detail the conversion^[c] of the Gentiles. And they were producing great joy in all the brothers. ⁴ And having arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders. And they reported all-that God did with them. ⁵ But some of the ones from the sect of the Pharisees having believed^[d] stood-up-out-of the assembly, saying that “It-is-necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses”.

Peter Says That Both Jews And Gentiles Are Saved By Grace And Faith, Not By The Law

⁶ And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. ⁷ And much debate having taken place, Peter, having stood up, said to them, “Men, brothers, you know that from the old^[e] days God made-a-choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the message of the good-news and believe. ⁸ And God, the heart-knower, testified^[f]— having given the Holy Spirit to them, just as also to us. ⁹ And He made no distinction between both us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Therefore^[g] why are you now testing God by laying a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ Rather, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in accordance with the way those also are saved ”.

Jesus Casts Demons Out of a Man Into a Herd of Pigs. The Locals Beg Him To Leave

5 And they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ² And He having gone out of the boat, immediately a man with^[a] an unclean spirit met Him, out of the tombs— ³ who was having his dwelling-place in the tombs. And no one was able to bind him any-more, not even with a chain, ⁴ because he often had been bound with shackles^[b] and chains and the chains had been torn-apart by him, and the shackles broken. And no one was strong-enough to subdue him. ⁵ And continually, by night and by day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying-out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And having seen Jesus from a distance, he ran and prostrated-himself before Him. ⁷ And having cried-out with a loud voice, he says “What^[c] do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most-High God? I make You swear^[d] by God, do not torment me”. ⁸ For He was saying to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit”. ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is the name for you?” And he says to Him, “The name for me is Legion^[e], because we are many”. ¹⁰ And he was begging Him greatly that He not send them outside of the country. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding there at the mountain. ¹² And they begged Him, saying “Send us to the pigs, in order that we may enter into them”. ¹³ And He permitted them. And the unclean spirits, having come out, entered into the pigs. And the herd, about two-thousand, rushed down the steep-bank into the sea. And they were drowning in the sea. ¹⁴ And the ones feeding^[f] them fled and reported it in the city and in the fields. And they came to see what the thing having happened was. ¹⁵ And they come to Jesus, and see the one being demon-possessed sitting, having been clothed and being sound-minded— the one having had the “legion”. And they became afraid. ¹⁶ And the ones having seen it related to them how it happened to the one being demon-possessed, and about the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Him to depart^[g] from their districts. ¹⁸ And while He was getting into the boat, the one having been demon-possessed was begging Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ And He did not permit him, but says to him, “Go to your house, to your people, and report to them all-that the Lord has done for you, and that He had mercy on you”. ²⁰ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis^[h] all-that Jesus did for him. And they all were marveling.