⁵ This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen,^(A) a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.^(B)

Preparing for the Mission Field

13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch,^(A) and Saul.

²⁶ From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.^(A)

The Letter to the Gentile Believers

²² Then the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas,^(A) both leading men among the brothers. ²³ They wrote:

‘From the apostles and the elders, your brothers,

To the brothers and sisters among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:^(B)

Greetings.

The Outcome of the Jerusalem Letter

³⁰ So they were sent off and went down to Antioch, and after gathering the assembly, they delivered the letter.

³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord.^(A)

²² On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch.^(A)

Freedom from the Law

¹¹ But when Cephas^[a] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.^[b]