▒ BIBLE.KR - BCC(성경통신교육원) ▒

Easy to Read Version|읽기쉬운성경

The Meeting at Jerusalem

¹Then some men came to Antioch from Judea and began teaching the non-Jewish believersa: "You cannot be saved if you are not circumcisedb as Mosesc taught us." ²Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with these men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to talk more about this with the apostlesd and elderse.
³The churchf helped them get ready to leave on their trip. The men went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, where they told all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to the true God. This made all the believers very happy. ⁴When the men arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the whole church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all that God had done with them. ⁵Some of the believers in Jerusalem had belonged to the Phariseesg. They stood up and said, "The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the Law of Moses!"
⁶Then the apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. ⁷After a long debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, I am sure you remember what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to tell the Good Newsh to those who are not Jewish. It was from me that they heard the Good News and believed. ⁸God knows everyone, even their thoughts, and he accepted these non-Jewish people. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spiriti the same as he did to us. ⁹To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, God made their hearts pure. ¹⁰So now, why are you putting a heavy burdenj around the necks of the non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and our fathersk were not able to carry that burden. ¹¹No, we believe that we and these people will be saved the same way - by the gracel of the Lord Jesus."
¹²Then the whole group became quiet. They listened while Paul and Barnabas told about all the miraculous signsm and wondersn that God had done through them among the non-Jewish people. ¹³When they finished speaking, James said, "My brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴Simon Peter has told us how God showed his love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time, God accepted them and made them his people. ¹⁵The words of the prophetso agree with this too:

¹⁶'I will return after this. I will build David'sp house again. It has fallen down.
I will build again the parts of his house that have been pulled down. I will make his house new.
¹⁷Then the rest of the world will look for the Lord God - all those of other nations who are my people too.
The Lord said this. And he is the one who does all these things.'q
¹⁸'All this has been known from the beginning of time.'r

¹⁹"So I think we should not make things hard for those who have turned to God from among the non-Jewish people. ²⁰Instead, we should send a letter telling them only the things they should not do:

Don't eat food that has been given to idolss. This makes the food unclean.
Don't be involved in sexual sin.
Don't eat meat from animals that have been strangled or any meat that still has the blood in it.

²¹They should not do any of these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the Law of Moses. The words of Moses have been read in the synagoguet every Sabbathu day for many years."

The Letter to the Non-Jewish Believers ²²The apostlesd, the elderse, and the whole churchf wanted to send some men with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The group decided to choose some of their own men. They chose Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were respected by the believersa. ²³The group sent the letter with these men. The letter said:

From the apostles and elders, your brothers.
To all the non-Jewish brothers in the city of Antioch and in the countries of Syria and Cilicia.
Dear Brothers:
²⁴We have heard that some men have come to you from our group. What they said troubled and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this. ²⁵We have all agreed to choose some men and send them to you. They will be with our dear friends, Barnabas and Paul. ²⁶Barnabas and Paul have given their lives to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷So we have sent Judas and Silas with them. They will tell you the same things. ²⁸We agree with the Holy Spiriti that you should have no more burdens, except for these necessary things:

²⁹Don't eat food that has been given to idolss.
Don't eat meat from animals that have been strangled or any meat that still has the blood in it.
Don't be involved in sexual sin.

If you stay away from these, you will do well.
We say goodbye now.

³⁰So Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas left Jerusalem and went to Antioch. There they gathered the group of believers together and gave them the letter. ³¹When the believers read it, they were happy. The letter comforted them. ³²Judas and Silas, who were also prophetso, said many things to encourage the believersa and make them stronger in their faith. ³³After Judas and Silas stayed there for a while, they left. They received a blessing of peace from the believersa. Then they went back to those who had sent them. ³⁴v
³⁵But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught the believers and told other people the Good Newsh about the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Separate ³⁶A few days later, Paul said to Barnabas, "We should go back to all the towns where we told people the messagew of the Lord. We should visit the believersa to see how they are doing."
³⁷Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark with them too. ³⁸But on their first trip John Mark did not continue with them in the work. He had left them at Pamphylia. So Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him this time. ³⁹Paul and Barnabas had a big argument about this. It was so bad that they separated and went different ways. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus and took Mark with him.
⁴⁰Paul chose Silas to go with him. The believersa in Antioch put Paul into the Lord's care and sent him out. ⁴¹Paul and Silas went through the countries of Syria and Cilicia, helping the churchesf grow stronger.

^abeliever Where this word is marked, it is literally “brother,” a term used by followers of Jesus Christ to refer to fellow members of God’s family.
^bcircumcise, circumcision Cutting off the foreskin of the male sex organ. This was done to every Jewish baby boy as a mark of the agreement God made with Abraham. Read Gen. 17:9-14. Sometimes “circumcision” is used with “heart” in the figurative sense of true devotion to God. (See Jer. 9:26; Rom. 2:28.) In the New Testament “circumcision” is also used in a spiritual sense to refer to the changed life of believers who have come to share in the new agreement God gave his people through Jesus. (See Php. 3:3; Col. 2:11.)
^cMoses One of the most important leaders of the Israelites during the time of the Old Testament. God used him to give the people his law, which is often called “the Law of Moses.”
^dapostle A follower of Jesus chosen to represent him in a special way. During his earthly ministry, Jesus named twelve men as apostles. They had the specific responsibility and authority to represent him and proclaim his message throughout the world. Later, he appeared to Paul and gave him a similar commission, especially to non-Jewish people. Barnabas, Paul’s missionary companion, and James, the brother of Jesus, are also called apostles, as well as several others in the New Testament. Some of these occurrences of the word, however, have the more general sense of “messenger” or “representative.”
^eelders (New Testament) Men chosen to lead a local group of believers (church). Also called “overseers” and “pastors” (shepherds), they have the work of caring for God’s people. See Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; Eph. 4:11; Php. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-3.
^fchurch Literally, “assembly” or “community,” the people who have been brought together as God’s family through their common faith in Jesus Christ. The word often refers to a group of believers who meet together or who live in the same area, but it is also used to mean the worldwide community of all believers in Christ.
^gPharisee A person who belonged to a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs.
^hGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever.
ⁱHoly Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. In union with God and Christ, he does God’s work among people in the world.
^j15:10 burden The Jewish law. Some of the Jews tried to make the non-Jewish believers follow this law.
^kfathers Important ancestors of the Jewish people, especially the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
^lgrace The love and kindness that God shows in his complete willingness to give people favors he does not owe them and blessings they don’t deserve.
^mmiraculous sign An amazing act that demonstrates the power of God.
ⁿwonders Miracles that cause people to react with amazement and fear of God.
^oprophet A person who speaks a message from God. Many of the books in the Old Testament are messages spoken or written by “the prophets,” who were some of those God chose to speak for him. God often used dreams or visions to tell or show his prophets what they should say.
^pDavid Israel’s greatest king, who ruled about 1000 years before Christ. Besides being a great military and political leader, he was a deeply spiritual man and a gifted musician, who wrote many of the Psalms. He made plans and arrangements for the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem (“the city of David”), which was actually completed by his son Solomon. The Scriptures said that a descendant of David would be God’s chosen messiah (king), who would establish an eternal kingdom. For that reason, Jesus is sometimes called “the Son of David.”
^qAmos 9:11-12
^r15:18 See Isa. 45:21.
^sidol A statue of a false god that people worship. It can also mean anything that is more important to a person than God.
^tsynagogue A place in many cities where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings.
^uSabbath Saturday, the seventh day of the week and a special day for Israelites or Jews. By God’s command it was set aside as a time for the people to rest and honor God.
^v15:34 Some Greek copies add verse 34: “But Silas decided to remain there.”
^wmessage See “Good News.”