Chronological
The Meeting at Jerusalem
15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.” 2 Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.
3 The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”
6 The apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. 7 There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed. 8 God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure. 10 So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. 11 But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”
12 Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas speak. Paul and Barnabas told about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the non-Jewish people. 13 After they finished speaking, James spoke. He said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has told us how God showed his love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time he has accepted them and made them his people. 15 The words of the prophets agree with this too:
16 ‘After these things I will return.
The kingdom of David is like a fallen tent.
But I will rebuild it.
And I will again build its ruins.
And I will set it up.
17 Then those people who are left alive may ask the Lord for help.
And all people from other nations may worship me,
says the Lord.
And he will make it happen.
18 And these things have been known for a long time.’ Amos 9:11-12
19 “So I think we should not bother the non-Jewish brothers who have turned to God. 20 Instead, we should write a letter to them. We should tell them these things: Do not eat food that has been offered to idols. (This makes the food unclean.) Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. Do not taste blood. Do not eat animals that have been strangled. 21 They should not do these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the law of Moses. For a long time the words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.”
Letter to Non-Jewish Believers
22 The apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to send some of their men with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They chose Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were respected by the believers. 23 They sent the following letter with them:
From the apostles and elders, your brothers.
To all the non-Jewish brothers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Dear Brothers,
24 We have heard that some of our men have come to you and said things that trouble and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this! 25 We have all agreed to choose some men and send them to you. They will be with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have given their lives to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 So we have sent Judas and Silas with them. They will tell you the same things. 28 It has pleased the Holy Spirit that you should not have a heavy load to carry, and we agree. You need to do only these things: 29 Do not eat any food that has been offered to idols. Do not taste blood. Do not eat any animals that have been strangled. Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. If you stay away from these things, you will do well.
Good-bye.
30 So the men left Jerusalem and went to Antioch. There they gathered the church and gave them the letter. 31 When they read it, they were very happy because of the encouraging letter. 32 Judas and Silas were also prophets, who said many things to encourage the believers and make them stronger. 33 After some time Judas and Silas were sent off in peace by the believers. They went back to those who had sent them. 34 [But Silas decided to remain there.][a]
35 But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others preached the Good News and taught the people the message of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, “We preached the message of the Lord in many towns. We should go back to all those towns to visit the believers and see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them too. 38 But John Mark had left them at Pamphylia; he did not continue with them in the work. So Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him. 39 Paul and Barnabas had a serious argument about this. They separated and went different ways. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus and took Mark with him. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left. The believers in Antioch put Paul into the Lord’s care. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, giving strength to the churches.
Timothy Goes with Paul and Silas
16 Paul came to Derbe and Lystra. A follower named Timothy was there. Timothy’s mother was Jewish and a believer. His father was a Greek.
2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy and said good things about him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him. But all the Jews living in that area knew that Timothy’s father was Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy to please the Jews. 4 Paul and the men with him traveled from town to town. They gave the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches became stronger in the faith and grew larger every day.
Paul Is Called Out of Asia
6 Paul and the men with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit did not let them preach the Good News in Asia. 7 When they came near the country of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus did not let them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went to Troas. 9 That night Paul had a vision. In the vision, a man from Macedonia came to him. The man stood there and begged, “Come over to Macedonia. Help us!” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.
Lydia Becomes a Christian
11 We left Troas in a ship, and we sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to Neapolis.[b] 12 Then we went by land to Philippi, the leading city in that part of Macedonia. It is also a Roman colony.[c] We stayed there for several days.
13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river. There we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. 14 There was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She worshiped the true God. The Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. 15 She and all the people in her house were baptized. Then Lydia invited us to her home. She said, “If you think I am truly a believer in the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she persuaded us to stay with her.
Paul and Silas in Jail
16 Once, while we were going to the place for prayer, a servant girl met us. She had a special spirit[d] in her. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. 17 This girl followed Paul and us. She said loudly, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how you can be saved!”
18 She kept this up for many days. This bothered Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” Immediately, the spirit came out.
19 The owners of the servant girl saw this. These men knew that now they could not use her to make money. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the city rulers in the marketplace. 20 Here they brought Paul and Silas to the Roman rulers and said, “These men are Jews and are making trouble in our city. 21 They are teaching things that are not right for us as Romans to do.”
22 The crowd joined the attack against them. The Roman officers tore the clothes of Paul and Silas and had them beaten with rods again and again. 23 After being severely beaten, Paul and Silas were thrown into jail. The jailer was ordered to guard them carefully. 24 When he heard this order, he put them far inside the jail. He pinned down their feet between large blocks of wood.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly, there was a big earthquake. It was so strong that it shook the foundation of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail broke open. All the prisoners were freed from their chains. 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had already escaped. So he got his sword and was about to kill himself.[e] 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside. Shaking with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all the people in your house.” 32 So Paul and Silas told the message of the Lord to the jailer and all the people in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then he and all his people were baptized immediately. 34 After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them food. He and his family were very happy because they now believed in God.
35 The next morning, the Roman officers sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free!”
36 The jailer said to Paul, “The officers have sent an order to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the police, “They beat us in public without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens.[f] And they threw us in jail. Now they want to make us go away quietly. No! Let them come themselves and bring us out!”
38 The police told the Roman officers what Paul said. When the officers heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 So they came and told Paul and Silas they were sorry. They took Paul and Silas out of jail and asked them to leave the city. 40 So when they came out of the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. There they saw some of the believers and encouraged them. Then they left.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.