14. Simon Peter has told how God first came to the Gentiles and made some of them his own people.
15. This agrees with what the prophets wrote,
16. “I, the Lord, will returnand rebuildDavid's fallen house.I will build it from its ruinsand set it up again.
17. Then other nationswill turn to meand be my chosen ones.I, the Lord, say this.
18. I promised it long ago.”
19. And so, my friends, I don't think we should place burdens on the Gentiles who are turning to God.
20. We should simply write and tell them not to eat anything that has been offered to idols. They should be told not to eat the meat of any animal that has been strangled or that still has blood in it. They must also not commit any terrible sexual sins.
21. We must remember that the Law of Moses has been preached in city after city for many years, and every Sabbath it is read when we Jews meet.
22. The apostles, the leaders, and all the church members decided to send some men to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Silas and Judas Barsabbas, who were two leaders of the Lord's followers.
23. They wrote a letter that said:We apostles and leaders send friendly greetings to all you Gentiles who are followers of the Lord in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.
24. We have heard that some people from here have terribly upset you by what they said. But we did not send them!
25. So we met together and decided to choose some men and to send them to you along with our good friends Barnabas and Paul.
26. These men have risked their lives for our Lord Jesus Christ.
27. We are also sending Judas and Silas, who will tell you in person the same things that we are writing.
28. The Holy Spirit has shown us that we should not place any extra burden on you.