Passage

Acts 15.13-21

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they. 12. And all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them."

"13. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken unto me: 14. Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16. After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen; And I will build again the ruins thereof, And I will set it up: 17. That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, 18. Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known from of old. 19. Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God; 20. but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. 21. For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath."

"22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23. and they wrote thus by them, The apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting:" (Acts 15:11-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.” 12. All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them."

"13. After they were silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. 14. Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations, to take out of them a people for his name. 15. This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written, 16. ‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up, 17. That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things. 18. All of God’s works are known to him from eternity.’ 19. “Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20. but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21. For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”"

"22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. 23. They wrote these things by their hand: “The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings." (Acts 15:11-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 12. Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them."

"13. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16. After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20. But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day."

"22. Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23. And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:" (Acts 15:11-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. but, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe to be saved, even as also they.' 12. And all the multitude did keep silence, and were hearkening to Barnabas and Paul, declaring as many signs and wonders as God did among the nations through them;"

"13. and after they are silent, James answered, saying, 'Men, brethren, hearken to me; 14. Simeon did declare how at first God did look after to take out of the nations a people for His name, 15. and to this agree the words of the prophets, as it hath been written: 16. After these things I will turn back, and I will build again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen down, and its ruins I will build again, and will set it upright, 17. that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all the nations, upon whom My name hath been called, saith the Lord, who is doing all these things. 18. 'Known from the ages to God are all His works; 19. wherefore I judge: not to trouble those who from the nations do turn back to God, 20. but to write to them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols, and the whoredom, and the strangled thing; and the blood; 21. for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him, in the synagogues every sabbath being read.'"

"22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, chosen men out of themselves to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, 23. having written through their hand thus: 'The apostles, and the elders, and the brethren, to those in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, brethren, who [are] of the nations, greeting;" (Acts 15:11-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.