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

Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you.

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this question.

They gathered frequently to pray as a group, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place.

Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts,

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to choose some men from the group and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose two men who were highly respected by the believers, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas,

We send you, then, Judas and Silas, who will tell you in person the same things we are writing.

My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord's service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord.

Tychicus, our dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me, so that you may know how I am getting along.

Our dear friend Tychicus, who is a faithful worker and fellow servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me.

With him goes Onesimus, that dear and faithful friend, who belongs to your group. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in Christ. How much he means to me! And how much more he will mean to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord!

Look on our Lord's patience as the opportunity he is giving you to be saved, just as our dear friend Paul wrote to you, using the wisdom that God gave him.

Paul and Barnabas got into a fierce argument with them about this, so it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and see the apostles and elders about this matter.

Paul and Barnabas spent some time in Antioch, and together with many others they taught and preached the word of the Lord.

James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, recognized that God had given me this special task; so they shook hands with Barnabas and me, as a sign that we were all partners. We agreed that Barnabas and I would work among the Gentiles and they among the Jews.