Acts 15:28

THE MESSAGE

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!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For it was the Holy Spirit’s decision—and ours—not to place further burdens on you beyond these requirements:

King James Version (1611)
For it seemed good to the holy Ghost, and to vs, to lay vpon you no greater burden then these necessarie things;

King James Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

English Standard Version
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

New American Standard Bible
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

New Century Version
It has pleased the Holy Spirit that you should not have a heavy load to carry, and we agree. You need to do only these things:

Amplified Bible
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place on you any greater burden than these essentials:

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

Legacy Standard Bible
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

Berean Standard Bible
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

Contemporary English Version
The Holy Spirit has shown us that we should not place any extra burden on you.

Complete Jewish Bible
For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh and to us not to lay any heavier burden on you than the following requirements:

Darby Translation
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

Easy-to-Read Version
We agree with the Holy Spirit that you should have no more burdens, except for these necessary things:

Geneva Bible (1587)
For it seemed good to the holy Ghost, and to vs, to lay no more burden vpon you, then these necessary things,

George Lamsa Translation
For it is the will of the Holy Spirit and of us, to lay upon you no additional burden than these necessary things;

Good News Translation
The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules:

Lexham English Bible
For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us to place on you no greater burden except these necessary things:

Literal Translation
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to put not one greater burden on you than these necessary things:

American Standard Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

Bible in Basic English
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than these necessary things;

Hebrew Names Version
For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:

International Standard Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place on you any burden but these essential requirements:

Etheridge Translation
For it hath been the will of the Spirit of Holiness, and also of us, not to lay upon you greater burden beyond these things which are constraining;

Murdock Translation
For it was pleasing to the Holy Spirit, and to us, that there should not be laid upon you any additional burden, besides these necessary things:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For it seemed good to the holy ghost, and to vs, to charge you with no more then these necessarie thynges [That is to say]

English Revised Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

World English Bible
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, that no further burden be laid upon you than these necessary things, To abstain from meats offered to idols and blood,

Weymouth's New Testament
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no burden heavier than these necessary requirements--

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For it is seyn to the Hooly Goost and to vs, to putte to you no thing more of charge, than these nedeful thingis,

Update Bible Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay on you no greater burden than these necessary things:

Webster's Bible Translation
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

New English Translation
For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules:

New King James Version
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

New Living Translation
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements:

New Life Bible
It pleased the Holy Spirit and us to ask you to do nothing more than these things that have to be done.

New Revised Standard
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For it hath seemed good unto the Holy Spirit and unto us, no greater burden, to be laying upon you, than these necessary things: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things:

Revised Standard Version
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For it semed good to the holy gost and to vs to put no grevous thinge to you more then these necessary thinges:

Young's Literal Translation
`For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, no more burden to lay upon you, except these necessary things:

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For it pleased the holy goost and vs, to laye no charge vpon you, more then these necessary poyntes:

Mace New Testament (1729)
for by the holy spirit it seemed good to us, to lay no greater burthen upon you, than these necessary injunctions;

Simplified Cowboy Version
It seemed like the right things to do, and we believe the Holy Spirit agrees we should not make y'all do anything burdensome besides these few things,

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

it: John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 7:25, 1 Corinthians 7:40, 1 Corinthians 14:37, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, 1 Peter 1:12

greater: Matthew 11:30, Matthew 23:4, Revelation 2:24

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:14 - anger Luke 1:3 - seemed John 14:26 - Holy Ghost Acts 15:19 - that Acts 15:25 - seemed Acts 16:4 - they delivered 1 Corinthians 7:18 - being 1 Corinthians 9:21 - them Galatians 2:14 - why

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us,.... By various things they had reason doubtless to conclude, that they were under the influence and direction of the Holy Ghost in this affair; as by the spirit of prayer that was among them; by that power and energy with which many of them spoke on this occasion, and that so agreeable to the word of God; and by that unanimity with which they came into the advice given. With respect to the form here used, compare 1 Chronicles 13:2 and the Targum on it, which renders the words thus;

"if it be beautiful before you, and acceptable before the Lord, let us send, c.''

It follows here,

to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things not that they were necessary to salvation, but necessary to secure the peace of the churches, and at least were necessary, at that present time; and therefore since it appeared to be necessary to enjoin them for the present, they hoped they would not refuse to bear them; and especially, since, though they must own they were burdens, and a part of the yoke of bondage, yet they were not many, nor very heavy, and for the future they should lay no other, nor more upon them; and what they did, was to prevent any other or greater burden to be laid; and so the Syriac version renders it, "lest any more, or greater burden should be laid upon you."

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost - This is a strong and undoubted claim to inspiration. It was with special reference to the organization of the church that the Holy Spirit had been promised to them by the Lord Jesus, Matthew 18:18-20; John 14:26.

No greater burden - To impose no greater restraints to enjoin no other observances. See the notes on Acts 15:10.

Than these necessary things - Necessary:

(1) In order to preserve the peace of the church.

(2) To conciliate the minds of the Jewish converts, Acts 15:21.

(3) In their circumstances particularly, because the crime which is specified - licentiousness was one to which all early converts were especially exposed. See the notes on Acts 15:20.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 15:28. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us — The whole council had met under his direction; had consulted under his influence; and gave forth their decree from his especial inspiration.

Necessary things — They were necessary, howsoever burthensome they might appear; and necessary, not only for the time, place, or occasion; but for all times, all places, and all occasions. See this proved in the observations at the end of this chapter.