NKJV Bible in 365 Days
Council of Grace and New Frontiers — October 20
Acts 15-16
Acts 15
1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 365N 293.1
2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 365N 293.2
3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 365N 293.3
4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 365N 293.4
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.” 365N 293.5
6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 365N 293.6
7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 365N 293.7
8 So God, who knows the heart, [a] acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 365N 293.8
9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 365N 293.9
10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 365N 293.10
11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus [b] Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” 365N 293.11
12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. 365N 293.12
13 And after they had [c] become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 365N 293.13
14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 365N 293.14
15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 365N 293.15
16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; 365N 293.16
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord , Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the [d] Lord who does all these things.’ 365N 293.17
18 [e] “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 365N 293.18
19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 365N 293.19
20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from [f] sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 365N 293.20
21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” 365N 293.21
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, [g] and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 365N 293.22
23 They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 365N 293.23
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, [h] saying, “ You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 365N 293.24
25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one [i] accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 365N 293.25
26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 365N 293.26
27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 365N 293.27
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 365N 293.28
29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual [j] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. 365N 293.29
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 365N 293.30
31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 365N 293.31
32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 365N 293.32
33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to [k] the apostles. 34 [l] However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 365N 293.33
34 365N 293.34
35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 365N 293.35
36 Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” 365N 293.36
37 Now Barnabas [m] was determined to take with them John called Mark. 365N 293.37
38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. 365N 293.38
39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; 365N 293.39
40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, being [n] commended by the brethren to the grace of God. 365N 293.40
41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. 365N 293.41
Acts 16
1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 365N 293.42
2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 365N 293.43
3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 365N 293.44
4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 365N 293.45
5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. 365N 293.46
6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in [a] Asia. 365N 293.47
7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the [b] Spirit did not permit them. 365N 293.48
8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 365N 293.49
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 365N 293.50
10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. 365N 293.51
11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 365N 293.52
12 and from there to Philippi, which is the [c] foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 365N 293.53
13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 365N 293.54
14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 365N 293.55
15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us. 365N 293.56
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 365N 293.57
17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 365N 293.58
18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly [d] annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 365N 293.59
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 365N 293.60
20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 365N 293.61
21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” 365N 293.62
22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 365N 293.63
23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 365N 293.64
24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 365N 293.65
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 365N 293.66
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 365N 293.67
27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 365N 293.68
28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 365N 293.69
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 365N 293.70
30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 365N 293.71
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 365N 293.72
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 365N 293.73
33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 365N 293.74
34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. 365N 293.75
35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the [e] officers, saying, “Let those men go.” 365N 293.76
36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.” 365N 293.77
37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.” 365N 293.78
38 And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 365N 293.79
39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. 365N 293.80
40 So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. 365N 293.81