“Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,
Parallel translations
- KJV Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
- BSB It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
- NKJV Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
- NASB Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,
- NLT “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
James judges that they should not trouble Gentiles turning to God. Gentile believers should not be burdened with the demand of the law.
Overview
James's verdict directly answers the false teachers: do not impose circumcision and law-keeping on Gentile converts. The word 'trouble' echoes the unsettling effect the agitators had caused. His judgment safeguards the gospel of grace while showing pastoral care for those coming to God through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Acts 15:28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:
- Gal 1:7–10and there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.
- 1 Th 1:9For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
- Acts 15:24Because 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;
- Acts 26:20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
- Hos 14:2Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
- Isa 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- Acts 15:10Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- Gal 5:11–12But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.
- Gal 2:4This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage;
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 15:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.