Acts 15:24

THE MESSAGE

We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn't send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they've looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We've sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we've written.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Since we have heard that some without our authorization went out from us and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts,

King James Version (1611)
Forasmuch as we haue heard, that certaine which went out from vs, haue troubled you with words, subuerting your soules, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keepe the Law, to whom we gaue no such commandement:

King James Version
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

English Standard Version
Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,

New American Standard Bible
Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have confused you by their teaching, upsetting your souls,

New Century Version
We have heard that some of our group have come to you and said things that trouble and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this.

Amplified Bible
Since we have heard that some of our men have troubled you with their teachings, causing distress and confusion—men to whom we gave no such orders or instructions—

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,

Legacy Standard Bible
Since we have heard that some of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,

Berean Standard Bible
It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled your minds by what they said.

Contemporary English Version
We have heard that some people from here have terribly upset you by what they said. But we did not send them!

Complete Jewish Bible
We have heard that some people went out from among us without our authorization, and that they have upset you with their talk, unsettling your minds.

Darby Translation
Inasmuch as we have heard that some who went out from amongst us have troubled you by words, upsetting your souls, [saying that ye must be circumcised and keep the law]; to whom we gave no commandment;

Easy-to-Read Version
We have heard that some men have come to you from our group. What they said troubled and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Forasmuch as we haue heard, that certaine which went out from vs, haue troubled you with wordes, and cumbred your mindes, saying, Ye must be circumcised and keepe the Lawe: to whom we gaue no such commaundement,

George Lamsa Translation
We have heard that certain men have gone out and disturbed you with words, thus upsetting your souls, saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the law: on these things we have never commanded them.

Good News Translation
We have heard that some who went from our group have troubled and upset you by what they said; they had not, however, received any instruction from us.

Lexham English Bible
Because we have heard that some have gone out from among us—to whom we gave no orders—and have thrown you into confusion by words upsetting your minds,

Literal Translation
Since we heard that some of us having gone out have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, Be circumcised and keep the Law, to whom we gave no command;

American Standard Version
Forasmuch as we have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment;

Bible in Basic English
Because we have knowledge that some who went from us have been troubling you with their words, putting your souls in doubt; to whom we gave no such order;

Hebrew Names Version
Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law,' to whom we gave no mitzvah;

International Standard Version
We have heard that some men, coming from us without instructions from us, have said things to trouble you and have unsettled your minds.your minds, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law.’">[fn]Acts 15:1; Galatians 2:4; 5:12; Titus 1:10-11;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
It hath been heard by us, that men from us have gone forth and disturbed you with words, and have subverted your souls by saying, that you should be circumcised and observe the law, whom we have not commanded.

Murdock Translation
We have heard, that some have gone from us and disquieted you, by discourses, and have subverted your minds, by saying, That ye must be circumcised and keep the law; things which we have not commanded them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Apostles, and elders, & brethren, sende greetinges vnto ye brethren, which are of the gentiles in Antiochia, Syria, & Cilicia. Forasmuch as we haue heard, that certayne which departed from vs, haue troubled you with wordes, & cumbred your myndes, saying ye must be circumcised and kepe the lawe, to who we gaue no such commaundent:

English Revised Version
Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment;

World English Bible
Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law,' to whom we gave no commandment;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Forasmuch as we have heard, that some who came from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law, whom we commanded not.

Weymouth's New Testament
As we have been informed that certain persons who have gone out from among us have disturbed you by their teaching and have unsettled your minds, without having received any such instructions from us;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For we herden that summe wenten out fro vs, and trobliden you with wordis, and turneden vpsodoun youre soulis, to whiche men we comaundiden not,

Update Bible Version
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment;

Webster's Bible Translation
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain who went out from us, have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, [Ye must] be circumcised, and keep the law; to whom we gave no [such] commandment:

New English Translation
Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused you, upsetting your minds by what they said,

New King James Version
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" [fn] --to whom we gave no such commandment--

New Living Translation
"We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them!

New Life Bible
We have heard that some from our group have troubled you and have put doubt in your minds. They said that you must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew and you must keep the Law of Moses. We did not tell them to say these things.

New Revised Standard
Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Inasmuch as we had heard that, certain from among us, had troubled you with words, dismantling your souls, - unto whom we had given no instructions,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Forasmuch as we have heard that some going out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment:

Revised Standard Version
Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For as moche as we have hearde yt certayne which departed fro vs have troubled you with wordes and combred youre myndes sayinge: Ye must be circumcised and kepe the lawe to whom we gave no soche comaundemet.

Young's Literal Translation
seeing we have heard that certain having gone forth from us did trouble you with words, subverting your souls, saying to be circumcised and to keep the law, to whom we did give no charge,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For so moch as we haue herde that certayne of oures are departed, and haue troubled you, and combred youre myndes, sayenge: ye must be circumcysed, and kepe ye lawe (to whom we gaue no soch commaundemet)

Mace New Testament (1729)
Whereas we have been appriz'd, that some who went from us, have embarass'd you with their discourse, and unsettled your minds, maintaining, that you ought to be circumcised, and to observe the law, though we gave them no such injunction: after having been assembled,

Simplified Cowboy Version
We heard some cowboys from Jerusalem have been saying some troubling things to y'all. They've been teaching some wrong stuff, but understand that we did not send them to you.

Contextual Overview

²²Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter: From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Hello! ²⁴We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn't send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they've looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We've sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we've written. ²⁸It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage. These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you! ³⁰And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them. Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren't alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch. After a few days of this, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let's see how they're doing." Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn't have him; he wasn't about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways: Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up muscle and sinew in those congregations. ³⁴To Let Outsiders Inside It wasn't long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: "If you're not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can't be saved." Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem. After they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria about the breakthrough to the non-Jewish outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered—it was terrific news! When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders. Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers, but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. "You have to circumcise the pagan converts," they said. "You must make them keep the Law of Moses." The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter. The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor: "Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that he wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it—and not in any secondhand or roundabout way, but firsthand, straight from my mouth. And God, who can't be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person's thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him. "So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don't we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?" There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done among the other nations through their ministry. The silence deepened; you could hear a pin drop. James broke the silence. "Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included. This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets: After this, I'm coming back; I'll rebuild David's ruined house; I'll put all the pieces together again; I'll make it look like new So outsiders who seek will find, so they'll have a place to come to, All the pagan peoples included in what I'm doing. "God said it and now he's doing it. It's no afterthought; he's always known he would do this. "So here is my decision: We're not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master. We'll write them a letter and tell them, ‘Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, to not serve food offensive to Jewish Christians—blood, for instance.' This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honored for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath." Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter: From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Hello! We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn't send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they've looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We've sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we've written. It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage. These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you! And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them. ³⁵ Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren't alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that certain: Jeremiah 23:16, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 5:4, Galatians 5:12, 2 Timothy 2:14, Titus 1:10, Titus 1:11, 1 John 2:19

Ye must: Acts 15:1, Acts 15:9, Acts 15:10, Galatians 2:3, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 6:12, Galatians 6:13

Reciprocal: Acts 15:5 - That it Acts 15:19 - that Acts 21:20 - and they Romans 16:17 - cause 1 Corinthians 7:18 - being 2 Corinthians 11:13 - false Galatians 1:7 - but Galatians 2:14 - why Galatians 5:2 - that Galatians 5:10 - but Galatians 6:17 - let 2 Timothy 3:8 - resist Titus 3:11 - is subverted

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Forasmuch as we have heard,.... By the report of Paul and Barnabas, who were sent by the church at Antioch to Jerusalem, to acquaint them with the state of their case:

that certain which went out from us; Acts 15:1

have troubled you with words, or doctrines:

subverting your souls; removing them from the doctrine of grace to another Gospel, and which deserved not the name of a Gospel; and was very destructive to their souls, at least to the peace and com fort of them: this shows what an opinion the apostles, and elders, and members of the church at Jerusalem had of these "judaizing" preachers, and their tenets; they looked upon them as troublers of God's Israel, and upon their doctrines as subversive of spiritual joy and comfort.

Saying, ye must be circumcised and keep the law; the ceremonial law; the Alexandrian copy, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions leave out this clause; Acts 15:1- :,

Acts 15:1- :.

to whom we gave no such commandment: it looks as if these "judaizing preachers" not only pretended to be sent out by the apostles, to preach; but that they had particularly this in their instructions from them, that they should insist upon it, that the Gentiles that were received into the churches, should be circumcised, and be obliged to keep the other parts of the ceremonial law, when they had no such orders from them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Forasmuch - Since we have heard.

That certain - That some, Acts 15:1.

Have troubled you with words - With doctrines. They have disturbed your minds, and produced contentions.

Subverting your souls - The word used here occurs nowhere else in the New Testament ἀνασκευάζοντες anaskeuazontes. It properly means “to collect together the vessels used in a house the household furniture - for the purpose of removing it.” It is applied to marauders, robbers, and enemies who remove and bear off property, thus producing distress, confusion, and disorder. It is thus used in the sense of disturbing or destroying, and here denotes that they “unsettled their minds” - that they produced anxiety, disturbance, and distress by these doctrines about Moses.

To whom we gave no such commandment - They went, therefore, without authority. Self-constituted and self-sent teachers not infrequently produce disturbance and distress. Had the apostles been consulted on this subject, the difficulty would have been avoided. By thus saying that they had not given them a command to teach these things, they practically assured the Gentile converts that they did not approve of the course which those who went from Judea had taken.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 15:24. Certain which went out from us — So the persons who produced these doubtful disputations at Antioch, c., had gone out from the apostles at Jerusalem, and were of that Church: persons zealous for the law, and yet, strange to tell, so conscientiously attached to the Gospel that they risked their personal safety by professing it.

To whom we gave no such commandment — As, therefore, they went out from that Church, they should have taught nothing which was not owned and taught by it much less should they have taught in opposition to it.