Chronological
Is circumcision necessary?
15 Some people came from Judaea to Antioch and, on arrival, began to teach the Christians that they could not be saved unless they were circumcised according to the custom of Moses. 2 This caused considerable uproar and dispute between them and Paul and Barnabas, and the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas, and some others from their fellowship, to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, to try to sort out the problem. 3 So they were sent off by the church. They traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling people as they went about the conversion of the Gentiles. They brought great joy to the Christian communities.
4 When they arrived in Jerusalem they were welcomed by the church, the apostles and the elders, and they told them all the things that God had done with them. 5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up.
“They must be circumcised,” they said, “and you must tell them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders gathered together to see what to do about this matter. 7 After considerable argument, Peter got up.
“My brothers,” he said, “you know that from our early days together God chose that it should be from my mouth that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness, by giving them the holy spirit just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, but he purified their hearts through faith. 10 So now, why are you putting God to the test, by placing a yoke on the disciples’ neck which neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 Rather, we believe that it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we shall be saved, just like them.”
The judgment of James
12 The whole company was silent, and listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they had finished, James replied.
“My dear brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Symeon has explained how, at the beginning, God graciously favored the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his own name. 15 This, indeed, is in accordance with the words of the prophets, which say,
16 After this I will return, and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which had collapsed,
and I will build the ruins again, and set them straight,
17 so that the rest of the human race may seek the Lord,
and all the nations upon whom my name has been called.
Thus says the Lord, who has made these things 18 known from of old.
19 “Therefore this is my judgment: we should not cause extra difficulties for those of the Gentiles who have turned to God. 20 Rather, we should send them a message, warning them to keep away from things that have been polluted by idols, from fornication, from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 Moses, after all, has from ancient times had people proclaiming him from city to city, since he is read in the synagogues sabbath after sabbath.”
The letter to the churches
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole assembly, decided to send people from their number, Judas Barsabbas and Silas (men well thought of by the Christian community) to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. 23 They sent a letter with them, which read as follows.
“The apostles and elders send greetings to our Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. 24 Since we have heard that some of our number (not, however, sent by us) have been saying things which have troubled you, causing you distress of heart, 25 we resolved unanimously that it would be best to send to you men whom we have chosen, together with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives for the name of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. 27 So we have sent Judas and Silas, and they will tell you the same things face to face. 28 For it seemed good to the holy spirit and to us not to lay any burden on you beyond the following necessary things: 29 that you should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So they went off and came down to Antioch, where they gathered the people together and presented the letter. 31 When they read it, they were delighted with the message it contained. 32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said a good deal to encourage the brothers and sisters, and they gave them strength. 33 When they had spent some time there, they left the family in peace and returned to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others as well.
A huge row
36 After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers and sisters in all the various cities where we preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them. 38 But Paul reckoned that it was not a good idea to take with them someone who had left them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the rest of the work. 39 There was a huge row, which resulted in them splitting up. Barnabas took Mark and sailed off for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and went off, having been commended by the church to the grace of the Lord. 41 They went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Timothy—and new developments
16 Paul went on further, to Derbe and then Lystra. There was a disciple there by the name of Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but with a Greek father. 2 The Christians in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to go with them, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews in those regions, since they all knew that his father was Greek. 4 When they went through the cities, they handed on to them the decisions which had been taken by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, so that they could observe them. 5 The churches were strengthened in faith, and grew in number every day.
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, since the holy spirit had forbidden them to speak the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus didn’t allow them to do so. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 Then a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from Macedonia was standing there, pleading with him, and saying, “Come across to Macedonia and help us!” 10 When he saw the vision, at once we set about finding a way to get across to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the good news to them.
Preaching and prison in Philippi
11 So we sailed away from Troas and made a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. 12 From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the chief city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in this city for some days.
13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate to a place by a river where we reckoned there was a place of prayer, and there we sat down. Some women had gathered, and we spoke to them. 14 There was a woman called Lydia, a godfearer, who was a seller of purple from Thyatira. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. 15 She was baptized, with all her household.
“If you have judged me faithful to the Lord,” she begged us, “please come and stay at my home.”
So she persuaded us.
16 As we were going to the place of prayer we were met by a girl who had a spirit of divination. She and her oracles made a good living for her owners. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us.
“These men are servants of God Most High!” she would shout out. “They are declaring to you the way of salvation!”
18 She did this for many days. Eventually, Paul got fed up with it. He turned round and addressed the spirit.
“I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah,” he said, “come out of her!”
And it came out then and there.
19 When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of profit had vanished, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the public square before the authorities, 20 and presented them to the magistrates.
“These men,” they said, “are throwing our city into an uproar! They are Jews, 21 and they are teaching customs which it’s illegal for us Romans to accept or practice!”
22 The crowd joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had their clothes torn off them and gave orders for them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had thoroughly beaten them, they threw them into prison, and gave orders to the jailer to guard them securely. 24 With that instruction, he put them into the innermost part of the prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Earthquake and salvation
25 Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a huge earthquake, which shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains became loose. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all still here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and rushed in. Trembling all over, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “will you please tell me how I can get out of this mess?”
31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus,” they replied, “and you will be rescued—you and your household.”
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, with everyone who was in his house. 33 He took them, at that very hour of the night, and washed their wounds. Then at once he was baptized, and all his household with him. 34 Then he took them into his house, put food on the table, and rejoiced with his whole house that he had believed in God.
Publicly vindicated
35 When day broke, the magistrates sent their officers with the message, “Let those men go.” 36 The jailer passed on what they said to Paul.
“The magistrates have sent word that you should be released,” he said. “So now you can leave and go in peace.”
37 But Paul objected.
“We are Roman citizens!” he said. “They beat us in public without a trial, they threw us into prison, and now they are sending us away secretly? No way! Let them come themselves and take us out.”
38 The officers reported these words to the magistrates. When they heard that they were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 They went and apologized, brought them out of the prison, and requested that they leave the city. 40 So when they had left the prison they went to Lydia’s house. There they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and then they went on their way.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.