Acts 15:6-29

New Catholic Bible

Salvation through the Grace of Christ. ⁶ The apostles and the elders convened to consider this matter. ⁷ After a long period of debate, Peter stood up to address them. “Brethren,” he said, “you are well aware that in the early days God made his choice among you that it would be through my mouth that the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and become believers. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by giving to them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between them and us, for he purified their hearts by faith.

¹⁰ “Therefore, why are you determined to try God’s patience by laying a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither we nor our ancestors have found easy to bear? ¹¹ On the contrary, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are, through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” ¹² On hearing this, the whole assembly fell silent, and they listened as Barnabas and Paul described all the signs and wonders that God had worked through them among the Gentiles.

¹³ James on Dietary Law. After they had finished speaking, James responded, “Brethren, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has related how God first looked favorably upon the Gentiles and took from among them a people for his name. ¹⁵ This agrees with the words of the Prophets, as it is written,

¹⁹ “Therefore, I have come to this decision. We should not make things more difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Rather, we should send a letter simply instructing them to abstain from things that have been polluted by idols, from unchastity, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For in every town for many generations, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

²² The Letter of the Apostles. Then the apostles and the elders, with the approval of the whole Church, decided to choose representatives from their number and to send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They sent Judas, who was called Barsabbas,^[b] and Silas, leaders in the community, ²³ to deliver the following letter:

The apostles and the elders, your brethren,

To the brethren in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

²⁴ It has come to our attention that some of our number, without having received any instructions from us, have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind. ²⁵ Therefore, we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you together with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ men who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ And so we are sending Judas and Silas who will confirm these things by word of mouth.

²⁸ It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and also our decision not to lay any further burden upon you beyond these essentials: ²⁹ you are to abstain from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from unchastity. If you avoid these, you will be doing what is right.

Farewell.