1. After 14 years I went back to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me.
2. I went there because God showed me that I should go. I explained to them the message that I tell the non-Jewish people. I also met alone with those who were considered to be the leaders. I wanted to be sure we were in agreement so that my past work and the work I do now would not be wasted.
3. Titus, who was with me, is a Greek. But these leaders still did not force him to be circumcised.
4. We needed to talk about these problems, because some who pretended to be our brothers had come into our group secretly. They came in like spies to find out about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves,
5. but we did not agree with anything those false brothers wanted. We wanted the truth of the Good News to continue for you.
6. Those men who were considered to be important did not change the Good News message I tell people. (It doesn’t matter to me if they were “important” or not. To God everyone is the same.)
7. But these leaders saw that God had given me a special work, the same as Peter. God gave Peter the work of telling the Good News to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the Good News to the non-Jewish people.
8. God gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the Jewish people. God gave me the power to work as an apostle too, but for those who are not Jews.
9. James, Peter, and John seemed to be the leaders. And they saw that God had given me this special gift of ministry, so they accepted Barnabas and me. They said to us, “We agree that you should go to those who are not Jews, and we will go to the Jews.”
10. They asked us to do only one thing—to remember to help those who are poor. And this was something that I really wanted to do.
11. When Peter came to Antioch, he did something that was not right. I stood against him, because he was wrong.