Chronological

15 Some men came from Judea and taught the Christian brothers. They said, `You must be circumcised with the mark made on your body in the way Moses taught us. If you are not circumcised you cannot be saved.'

² Paul and Barnabas did not agree with them. There was much talking about it. Then they decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the other men should go to Jerusalem. They would ask the apostles and church leaders there about it.

³ So the church people sent them on their way. They passed through the districts of Phoenicia and Samaria. They told them that some who were not Jews were believing in God. This news made all the Christian brothers very happy.

⁴ When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church people, the apostles, and the church leaders. They told all that God had done as he worked with them.

⁵ But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisee group stood up and said, `They must be circumcised [like the Jews]. We must tell them to keep all the laws of Moses.'

⁶ The apostles and the church leaders met together to talk the matter over.

⁷ After much talking about it, Peter stood up. He said, `Men and brothers, you know what happened in the first days. God chose me to tell the good news to those who are not Jews. They believed.

⁸ God knows what is in a person's heart. He proved that they believed. He gave them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.

⁹ God made no difference between them and us. He made their hearts clean when they believed.

¹⁰ So now why are you doing what God did not do? You give the disciples a hard thing to do. Our fathers could not do it. And we cannot do it.

¹¹ We believe that the Lord Jesus saves us because he is kind. And that is why he saves them.'

¹² Then all the people stopped talking. They listened to what Paul and Barnabas had to say. They told them about all the signs and wonderful things that God had helped them to do among the people who were not Jews.

¹³ When they had finished talking, James said, `Men and brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴ Simeon has told us how God came the first time to the people who are not Jews. God chose some of them to belong to him and be his people.

¹⁵ This is what the prophets of God said long ago.

¹⁶ They said, "After this, I will come back and build up again the house of David which has fallen down. I will take the broken pieces and build a house again.

¹⁷ Then all the other people will find God, even those who are not Jews but who belong to me. So says the Lord, who is doing all these things."

¹⁸ `He told us these things long ago.

¹⁹ So now, this is what I think. We should not trouble those who are not Jews but who have turned to God.

²⁰ We should write them a letter and tell them what they must not do. They must not eat food that has been given to idols. They must not have sex with someone who is not their husband or wife. They must not eat the meat of animals that are killed by choking. They must not taste blood.

²¹ Since the times of long ago there have been men who told about Moses in every city. They read his laws in the meeting places every Sabbath day.'

²² Then the apostles, and the leaders, and all the church people chose men from among themselves. They sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas, whose other name was Barsabbas, and Silas. They were leaders among the Christian brothers.

²³ They sent a letter with them. It said, `The apostles, the church leaders, and the Christian brothers send greetings to the Christians who are not Jews in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

²⁴ We have heard that some of our people visited you and talked to you. They taught things that troubled you and made you believe wrong things. They said, "You must be circumcised like the Jews and keep the law." We did not tell them to teach you this.

²⁵ All of us gathered here have chosen some men. We are sending them with our dear brothers, Barnabas and Paul.

²⁶ Barnabas and Paul have been willing to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷ We are sending Judas and Silas. They will tell you the same things that we have written in the letter.

²⁸ The Holy Spirit and we thought it was not good to give you a hard thing to do. But here is what you must not do.

²⁹ You must not eat food that has been given to idols. You must not eat the meat of animals that are killed by choking. You must not taste blood. You must not commit adultery. If you keep away from these things, you will do well. Goodbye.'

³⁰ So the men left and went to Antioch. There they called the people together and gave them the letter.

³¹ When the people read the letter, they were very glad. It helped them to become stronger in what they believed.

³² Judas and Silas were prophets. They said many things to the Christian brothers and helped them to believe more strongly.

³³ They stayed there for a while. Then the brothers sent them back to those who had sent them. They sent a greeting of peace with them.

³⁴ But Silas thought it was good to stay at Antioch.

³⁵ Paul and Barnabas stayed there too. They taught the people and told them the Lord's message. Many other men did this also.

³⁶ Some days later, Paul said to Barnabas, `Let us go back and visit the brothers in every city where we have told the Lord's message. Let us see how they are doing.'

³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them.

³⁸ But Paul did not think that they should take him. John Mark had left them when they were at Pamphylia. He had not gone along with them to do the work.

³⁹ The feeling about this matter was very strong between Barnabas and Paul, so they did not go together. Barnabas took Mark and went in a boat to Cyprus.

⁴⁰ Paul chose Silas. The Christian brothers asked the Lord to bless Paul. Then he went on his way.

⁴¹ Paul travelled through Syria and Cilicia. He helped the church people to believe more strongly.

16 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there. His mother was a Jew, a believer, and his father was a Greek.

² The Christian brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke very well of Timothy.

³ Paul wanted him to go with him. He circumcised him because all the Jews in those places knew that his father was a Greek.

^4-5 hey went from town to town and talked to the people. They told them what the apostles and church leaders at Jerusalem had said should be done. So the church people became stronger in what they believed. Every day more people joined the church.

⁶ Paul and Silas went through the district of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit said they should not tell God's word in the country of Asia Minor.

⁷ After they came to the district of Mysia, they wanted to go to the country of Bithynia but the Holy Spirit did not allow them.

⁸ So they went by Mysia and came to the city of Troas.

⁹ In the night Paul had a vision: he saw a picture like a dream. He saw a man of Macedonia standing and calling to him, `Come over into Macedonia and help us.'

¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we tried to leave for Macedonia right away. We believed that the Lord had called us to tell the people there the good news.

¹¹ So we left Troas in a boat and went straight across the water to the town of Samothrace. The next day we went to Neapolis.

¹² From there we went to Philippi. This was the big city of the district of Macedonia. It was a free city. We stayed there for some time.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the river. We thought this was a place where people met to talk with God. So we sat down and talked to the women who had come there.

¹⁴ One woman named Lydia listened to us. She was from the city of Thyatira, and she sold red cloth. She worshipped God. He worked in her heart and she believed what Paul said.

¹⁵ She and all the people in her house were baptised. Then she begged us and said, `If you really feel that I believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house.' And she would not allow us to say no.

¹⁶ One day we were going to the meeting place where people talked with God. We met a girl who had a bad spirit. She used to tell people what was going to happen. Her masters received much money when she did this.

¹⁷ This girl kept on following Paul and us. She was shouting, `These men are servants of the High God. They are telling us how to be saved.'

¹⁸ She did this for many days. This troubled Paul. He turned and said to the spirit in her, `In the name of Jesus Christ, I say to you, come out of her!' And the spirit came out at once.

¹⁹ Her masters saw that they had lost this way of getting money. They caught Paul and Silas and took them by force to the rulers in the court.

²⁰ When they had brought them before the judges, they said, `These men are Jews. And they are making much trouble in our city.

²¹ They are teaching people laws which we may not obey because we are Roman people.'

²² All the people standing around were against Paul and Silas. The judges tore off the clothes of Paul and Silas. They gave orders that they should be beaten.

²³ They beat them very hard. Then they put them in prison. `Take care,' they said to the prison guard. `Be sure that these prisoners do not run away.'

²⁴ And so the guard put them in the back room in the prison. They locked their feet in holes cut in heavy pieces of wood.

²⁵ At midnight, Paul and Silas were talking with God. They were singing and praising God. The other prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶ Then all of a sudden the earth shook very much. Even the floor of the prison was shaking. All the doors came wide open. The things that held the prisoners all came off.

²⁷ The prison guard woke up. He saw all the prison doors open. So he took a long knife and was going to kill himself. He thought that all the prisoners had run away.

²⁸ Paul shouted, `Stop! Do not hurt yourself. We are all here!'

²⁹ The guard called for a light and went in quickly. He kneeled down before Paul and Silas, trembling with fear.

³⁰ He brought them out of the prison and said, `Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'

³¹ They replied, `Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. All the people in your house must do the same.'

³² They talked to him and all the people in the house. They told them the word of the Lord.

³³ Paul and Silas had sores from the beating in prison. So that same hour of the night the guard washed them. Then he and all the people of his house were baptised.

³⁴ He took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them food to eat. He and all the people in his house were very happy. They now believed in God.

³⁵ In the morning the judges sent soldiers to the guard with a message. `Let those men go free,' they said.

³⁶ The guard told Paul. He said, `The judges have sent a message that you may go free. So now, come out and go on your way. You will have no more trouble.'

³⁷ But Paul said, `We are Romans. And they have beaten us outside where people can see. They have put us in prison without proving we have done wrong. Now, are they going to take us out of prison secretly? No, they themselves must come and take us out.'

³⁸ The soldiers told this to the judges. They were very much afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Romans.

³⁹ So they came to Paul and Silas. They said they were sorry for what they had done. They brought them out of prison and asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰ When Paul and Silas came out of prison, they went back to Lydia's house. They saw their Christian brothers and talked to them. This helped the Christians to believe more strongly. Then Paul and Silas went on their way.