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This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
(Matthew 4:1â11; Mark 1:12â13)
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, [Or in the wilderness ] where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
The devil said to Him, âIf You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.â
But Jesus answered, âIt is written: âMan shall not live on bread alone.â [Deuteronomy 8:3; BYZ and TR on bread alone, but on every word of God. ]â
Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. âI will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,â he said. âFor it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.â
But Jesus answered, âIt is written: âWorship the Lord your God and serve Him only.â [Deuteronomy 6:13 ]â
Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. âIf You are the Son of God,â he said, âthrow Yourself down from here. For it is written:
âHe will command His angels concerning You
to guard You carefully;
and they will lift You up in their hands,
so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.â [Psalm 91:11â12 ]â
But Jesus answered, âIt also says, âDo not put the Lord your God to the test.â [Deuteronomy 6:16 ]â
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
(Isaiah 9:1â7; Matthew 4:12â17; Mark 1:14â15)
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by everyone.
(Isaiah 61:1â11; Matthew 13:53â58; Mark 6:1â6)
Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:
âThe Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives [BYZ and TR He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives ]
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lordâs favor.â [Or to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord; Isaiah 61:1â2 (see also LXX) ]
Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, and He began by saying, âToday this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.â
All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. âIsnât this the son of Joseph?â they asked.
Jesus said to them, âSurely you will quote this proverb to Me: âPhysician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.ââ
Then He added, âTruly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers [A leper was one afflicted with a skin disease. See Leviticus 13. ]in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansedâonly Naaman the Syrian.â
On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff. But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way.
(Mark 1:21â28)
Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people. They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out in a loud voice, âHa! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You areâthe Holy One of God!â
But Jesus rebuked the demon. âBe silent!â He said. âCome out of him!â At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.
All the people were overcome with amazement and asked one another, âWhat is this message? With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!â And the news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region.
(Matthew 8:14â17; Mark 1:29â34)
After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf, and He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and began to serve them.
At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Demons also came out of many people, shouting, âYou are the Son of God!â But He rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.
(Mark 1:35â39)
At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place, and the crowds were looking for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving. But Jesus told them, âI must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.â
And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea. [BYZ and TR Galilee; see Mark 1:39. ] (BSB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
âYou shall not spread a false report. Donât join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
âYou shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.
âIf you meet your enemyâs ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, donât leave him. You shall surely help him with it.
âYou shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
âKeep far from a false charge, and donât kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
âYou shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
âYou shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
âFor six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
âSix days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
âBe careful to do all things that I have said to you; and donât invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.
âYou shall observe a feast to me three times a year. You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
âYou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God.
âYou shall not boil a young goat in its motherâs milk.
âBehold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Donât provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.â (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope doesnâ t disappoint us, because Godâs love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from Godâs wrath through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death passed to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins werenâ t like Adamâs disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
But the free gift isnâ t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift followed many trespasses to justification. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one manâs disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous. The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly, that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (WEB)
Romans 5:1, 5, 8: Romans 5:1, 5, 8
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, âPeace and safety,â then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. But you, brothers, arenâ t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. You are all children of light and children of the day. We donât belong to the night, nor to darkness, so then letâs not sleep, as the rest do, but letâs watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. But since we belong to the day, letâs be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God didnâ t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to respect and honor them in love for their workâs sake.
Be at peace among yourselves. We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all. See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all.
Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Donâ t quench the Spirit. Donât despise prophecies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
Brothers, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (WEB)
1 Thessalonians 5:11: B133. Encourage One Another
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
The Song of songs, which is Solomon âs.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
for your love is better than wine.
Your oils have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is oil poured out,
therefore the virgins love you.
Take me away with you.
Letâs hurry.
The king has brought me into his rooms.
We will be glad and rejoice in you.
We will praise your love more than wine!
They are right to love you.
I am dark, but lovely,
you daughters of Jerusalem,
like Kedarâs tents,
like Solomonâs curtains.
Donât stare at me because I am dark,
because the sun has scorched me.
My motherâs sons were angry with me.
They made me keeper of the vineyards.
I havenât kept my own vineyard.
Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you graze your flock,
where you rest them at noon;
for why should I be as one who is veiled
beside the flocks of your companions?
If you donât know, most beautiful among women,
follow the tracks of the sheep.
Graze your young goats beside the shepherds â tents.
I have compared you, my love,
to a steed in Pharaohâs chariots.
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
We will make you earrings of gold,
with studs of silver.
While the king sat at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
that lies between my breasts.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Behold, [âBeholdâ, from â×Ö´× ÖľÖź×â, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. ]you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves.
Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
and our couch is verdant.
The beams of our house are cedars.
Our rafters are firs. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Oh come, letâs sing to Yahweh.
Letâs shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!
Letâs come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Letâs extol him with songs!
For Yahweh is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth.
The heights of the mountains are also his.
The sea is his, and he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, letâs worship and bow down.
Letâs kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
for he is our God.
We are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep in his care.
Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
Donât harden your heart, as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers tempted me,
tested me, and saw my work.
Forty long years I was grieved with that generation,
and said, âThey are a people who err in their heart.
They have not known my ways.â
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
âThey wonât enter into my rest.â (WEB)
Psalm 95:6-7: Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down
Psalm 95:2; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43; Revelation 22:20: Come Ye Thankful People, Come
This content pulled from bible.org.
Do not envy evil people do not desire to be with them; for their hearts contemplate violence,and their lips speak harm. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; by knowledge its rooms are filledwith all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures. A wise warrior is strong, and a man of knowledge makes his strength stronger; for with guidance you wage your war,and with numerous advisers there is victory. Wisdom is unattainable for a fool;in court he does not open his mouth. The one who plans to do evilwill be called a scheming person. A foolish scheme is sin,and the scorner is an abomination to people. You have slacked off in the day of troubleâ your strength is small! Deliver those being taken away to death,and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. If you say, âBut we did not know about this,âwonât the one who evaluates hearts discern it?Wonât the one who guards your life realize and repay each person according to his deeds? Eat honey, my child, for it is good,and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste. Likewise, know that wisdom is sweet to your soul;if you have found it, you have a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Do not lie in wait like the wicked against the place where the righteous live;do not assault his home. Indeed a righteous person will fall seven times, and then get up again,but the guilty will collapse in calamity. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice, lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him. Do not fret because of evil peopleor be envious of wicked people, for the evil person has no future, and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king,and do not associate with rebels, for suddenly their destruction will overtake them, and who knows the ruinous judgment both the Lord and the king can bring? These sayings also are from the wise:To show partiality in judgment is terrible: The one who says to the guilty, âYou are innocent,â peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him. But there will be delight for those who convict the guilty, and a pleasing blessing will come on them. Like a kiss on the lips is the one who gives an honest answer. Establish your work outside and get your fields ready;afterward build your house. Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your words. Do not say, âI will do to him just as he has done to me;I will pay him back according to what he has done.â I passed by the field of a sluggard,by the vineyard of one who lacks sense. I saw that thorns had grown up all over it; the ground was covered with weeds,and its stone wall was broken down. Then I scrutinized it. I was putting my mind to itâI saw; I took in a lesson: âA little sleep, a little slumber,a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a bandit,and your need like an armed robber.â
(NET)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Now these are the heads of their fathersâ households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days. Then I looked around at the people and the priests, and found there were none of the sons of Levi. Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, for Elnathan, for Jarib, for Elnathan, for Nathan, for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, who were teachers. I sent them out to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen; and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty; and of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions. For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, âThe hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.â So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request.
Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them, and weighed to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered. I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, [A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces ]one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold, twenty bowls of gold weighing one thousand darics, [a daric was a gold coin issued by a Persian king, weighing about 8.4 grams or about 0.27 troy ounces each. ]and two vessels of fine bright bronze, precious as gold. I said to them, âYou are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a free will offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and the princes of the fathersâ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the rooms of Yahwehâs house.â
So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandits by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days. On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites. Everything was counted and weighed; and all the weight was written at that time.
The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to Yahweh. They delivered the kingâs commissions to the kingâs local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and Godâs house. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Moreover Yahwehâs word came to me, saying, âYou, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, âThe Lord Yahweh says: âA city that sheds blood within herself, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her! You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made! You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.
âââ Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. [Literally, \fqa made light of father and mother. ]Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you. In you have they uncovered their fathersâ nakedness. In you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighborâs wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his fatherâs daughter. In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,â says the Lord Yahweh.
âââ Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been shed within you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries. I will purge your filthiness out of you. You will be profaned in yourself in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh .âââ
Yahwehâs word came to me, saying, âSon of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the middle of the furnace. They are the dross of silver. Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: âBecause you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in the middle of it. As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so you will be melted in the middle of it; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.ââ
Yahwehâs word came to me, saying, âSon of man, tell her, âYou are a land that is not cleansed nor rained on in the day of indignation.â There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it. Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths. So I am profaned among them. Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, âThe Lord Yahweh says ,â when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
âI sought for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have brought their own way on their heads,â says the Lord Yahweh. (WEB)
This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, âUnless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.â And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers. On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.
(Amos 9:11â15; Galatians 2:1â10)
But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, âThe Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.â So the apostles and elders met to look into this matter.
After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, âBrothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.â
The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they had finished speaking, James declared, âBrothers, listen to me! Simon [Greek Simeon, a variant of Simon ]has told us how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people to be His own. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:
âAfter this I will return and rebuild
the fallen tent of David.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
says the Lord who does these things
that have been known for ages.â [Amos 9:11â12 (see also LXX); BYZ and TR says the Lord, who does all these things. 18 Known unto God are all His works from the ages. ]
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.â
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two leaders among the brothers, and sent them with this letter:
\pmo The apostles and the elders, your brothers,
\pmo To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
\pmo Greetings.
\pmo It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled you, troubling your minds by what they said. [BYZ and TR by saying that you must be circumcised and keep the law. ] So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to tell you in person the same things we are writing.
\pmo It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements: You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
\pmo Farewell.
So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter. When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers in peace to return to those who had sent them. [TR includes 34 Silas, however, decided to remain there. ] But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
(Acts 13:1â3; Acts 18:23â28)
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, âLet us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.â Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark. But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.
Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (BSB)