While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers:“ Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

有几个人从犹太下来，教训弟兄们说：“你们若不按摩西的规条受割礼，不能得救。”

有几个人从犹太下来，教导弟兄们说：“你们若不按照摩西的规矩受割礼，不能得救。”

有几个人从犹太下来，教导弟兄们说：“你们若不按照摩西的规矩受割礼，不能得救。”

有几个从犹太下来的人教导弟兄们说：“你们若不照着摩西的规条接受割礼，就不能得救。”

有几个人从犹太下来，教导弟兄们说：“你们若不照摩西的规例受割礼，就不能得救。”

有一些人从犹太下来，教导弟兄们说：“你们如果不按摩西的规矩受割礼，就不能得救。”

有幾個人從猶太下來，教訓弟兄們說：「你們若不按摩西的規條受割禮，不能得救。」

有幾個人從猶太下來，教導弟兄們說：「你們若不按照摩西的規矩受割禮，不能得救。」

有幾個人從猶太下來，教導弟兄們說：「你們若不按照摩西的規矩受割禮，不能得救。」

有幾個從猶太下來的人教導弟兄們說：「你們若不照著摩西的規條接受割禮，就不能得救。」

有幾個人從猶太下來，教導弟兄們說：“你們若不照摩西的規例受割禮，就不能得救。”

有幾個人從猶太下來，教訓弟兄們說：『你們若不按着摩西的規矩受割禮，就不能得救。』

有一些人從猶太下來，教導弟兄們說：「你們如果不按摩西的規矩受割禮，就不能得救。」

有數人來自猶太、訓諸兄弟曰、苟不依摩西例受割、不能得救也、

有數人自猶太來、教諸兄弟曰、苟非依摩西例、受割禮、則不得救、

有數人自猶太來、教諸兄弟曰、爾曹若不遵摩西之例受割禮、則不得救、

爾時有自猶太來者、誡諸兄弟曰：『苟不依摩西舊例、領受割禮、則不能蒙救恩。』

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:“ Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch. Here is what they were teaching the believers.“ Moses commanded you to be circumcised,” they said.“ If you aren’t, you can’t be saved.”

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers,“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers,“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren,“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

And certain men came down from Judæa and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers:“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved!”

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren,[ and said], Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers,“ Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers,“ Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”

But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted,“ The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

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

On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised.

For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now.For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments.

But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others,“ Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.

We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

When you came to Christ, you were“ circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision— the cutting away of your sinful nature.For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders— Judas( also called Barsabbas) and Silas.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.Even that question came up only because of some so called believers there— false ones, really— who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations.

Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,

This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign born servants whom you have purchased.All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant.Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”Then God said to Abraham,“ Regarding Sarai, your wife— her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah.And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief.“ How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought.“ And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”So Abraham said to God,“ May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”But God replied,“ No— Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.”When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham.On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him.Abraham was ninety nine years old when he was circumcised,and Ishmael, his son, was thirteen.Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day,along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were born there or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him.

Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too.

Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous— even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them— much to everyone’s joy— that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said,“ You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously.

But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision.( Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.)