Acts:15

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* 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisee group stood up and said , They must be circumcised &lt ;FI &gt ;like the Jews &lt ;Fi &gt ;. We must tell them to keep all the laws of Moses . * The apostles and the church leaders met together to talk the matter over . * 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 . * God knows what is in a persons heart . He proved that they believed . He gave them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us . * God made no difference between them and us . He made their hearts clean when they believed . * 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 . * We believe that the Lord Jesus saves us because he is kind . And that is why he saves them . * 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 . * When they had finished talking , James said , Men and brothers , listen to me . * 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 . * This is what the prophets of God said long ago . * 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 . * 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 ." * He told us these things long ago . * So now , this is what I think . We should not trouble those who are not Jews but who have turned to God . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * All of us gathered here have chosen some men . We are sending them with our dear brothers , Barnabas and Paul . * Barnabas and Paul have been willing to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . * We are sending Judas and Silas . They will tell you the same things that we have written in the letter . * 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 . * 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 . * So the men left and went to Antioch . There they called the people together and gave them the letter . * When the people read the letter , they were very glad . It helped them to become stronger in what they believed . * Judas and Silas were prophets . They said many things to the Christian brothers and helped them to believe more strongly . * 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 . * But Silas thought it was good to stay at Antioch . * Paul and Barnabas stayed there too . They taught the people and told them the Lords message . Many other men did this also . * Some days later , Paul said to Barnabas , Let us go back and visit the brothers in every city where we have told the Lords message . Let us see how they are doing . * Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them . * 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 . * 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 . * Paul chose Silas . The Christian brothers asked the Lord to bless Paul . Then he went on his way . * Paul travelled through Syria and Cilicia . He helped the church people to believe more strongly .

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