Passage

Acts 15.7-11

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"5. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. 6. And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter."

"7. And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Brethren, ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8. And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; 9. and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10. Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 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:" (Acts 15:5-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"5. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” 6. The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter."

"7. When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News, and believe. 8. God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 9. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10. Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 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." (Acts 15:5-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"5. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. ^{rose: or, rose up, said they, certain} 6. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter."

"7. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9. And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 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:" (Acts 15:5-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"5. and there rose up certain of those of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, 'It behoveth to circumcise them, to command them also to keep the law of Moses.' 6. And there were gathered together the apostles and the elders, to see about this matter,"

"7. and there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, 'Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe; 8. and the heart-knowing God did bare them testimony, having given to them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us, 9. and did put no difference also between us and them, by the faith having purified their hearts; 10. now, therefore, why do ye tempt God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 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;" (Acts 15:5-13, 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
TBD
TBD

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.