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Scripture · New Testament

Acts 15:1

Acts 15:1 is verse 1 of Acts chapter 15, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.

Berean Standard Bible

Then 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.”

BSB source and public domain terms

King James Version

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.

World English Bible

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

The word for “brothers” here and where the context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”

Read in context

Acts 15:1–3 · Berean Standard Bible

1 Then 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.”

2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

3 Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

Read all of Acts 15

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Acts 21:20

When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

Galatians 2:4

This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.

Galatians 2:12

For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.

Galatians 2:13

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Acts 15:5

But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

Romans 4:8

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

Romans 4:9

Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:10

In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.

Romans 4:11

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

Romans 4:12

And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:2

Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Galatians 5:3

Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

Galatians 5:4

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Philippians 3:2

Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

Philippians 3:3

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:11

In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

Colossians 2:12

And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Colossians 2:16

Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.

Genesis 17:10

This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

Genesis 17:11

You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

Genesis 17:12

Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

Genesis 17:13

Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 17:14

But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Genesis 17:15

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

Genesis 17:16

And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

Genesis 17:17

Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

Genesis 17:18

And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

Genesis 17:19

But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

Genesis 17:20

As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 17:21

But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

Genesis 17:22

When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Genesis 17:23

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

Genesis 17:24

So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

Genesis 17:25

and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

Genesis 17:26

Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

Genesis 17:27

And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.

Leviticus 12:3

And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.

John 7:22

But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.)

Acts 15:24

It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled you, troubling your minds by what they said.

1 Corinthians 7:18

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.

1 Corinthians 7:19

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

Galatians 2:1

Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also.

Galatians 2:3

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

Galatians 6:13

For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

Galatians 6:14

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:15

For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

Galatians 6:16

Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

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