Thematic Bible: Council


Thematic Bible



Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your counsel what we shall do.

Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid. And all the people who are with him shall flee. And I will only smite the king, and I will bring back all the people to thee. The man whom thou seek is as if all returned, [so] all the people shall be in peace. read more.
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says. And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner. Shall we do [after] his saying? If not, speak thou. And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good. Hushai said moreover, Thou know thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place. And it will come to pass, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom. And even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person. So we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until there be not one small stone found there. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that LORD might bring evil upon A Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counseled.


And certain men, who came down from Judea, taught the brothers, Unless ye will be circumcised in the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved. Therefore, no small dissension and debate having developed with Paul and Barnabus against them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some other men from them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about thi Indeed therefore, having been helped for the trip by the congregation, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy to all the brothers. read more.
And after arriving in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders. And they reported as many things as God did with them. But some of the men who believed from the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying, It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and the elders were assembled together to see about this matter. And when much debate occurred, Peter having risen up, he said to them, Men, brothers, ye know that from past days among us, God chose the Gentiles to hear through my mouth the word of the good-news, and to believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them, having given them the Holy Spirit, just as also to us. And he made not one distinction between both us and them, having purified their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do ye challenge God, to place a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But through the grace of the Lord Jesus, we believe to be saved, in the same way as those men also. And all the multitude kept silent, and they heard Barnabas and Paul describing how many signs and wonders God did among the Gentiles through them. And after they were quiet, James answered, saying, Men, brothers, hear me. Simeon described how God first came to help, to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. And to this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David that has fallen. And I will rebuild the things of it that have been demolished, and I will restore it, so that the rest of men might seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called upon them, says the Lord, who does these things. Known to God from the age are all his works. Therefore I judge not to trouble those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, but to write to them, to abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. For Moses from generations past, has from city to city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. Then it was decided by the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to send men chosen from them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, after writing by their hand these things:The apostles, and the elders, and the brothers, to those down in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, to the brothers of the Gentiles, greeting. Since we have heard that certain men who went out from us have troubled you with words, disturbing your souls, saying to be circumcised, and to keep the law, to whom we did not command, it was decided by us, having become unanimous, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have given over their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, themselves also declaring the same things by speech. For it was decided by the Holy Spirit, and by us, to lay upon you not one greater burden than these necessary things: to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, keeping yourselves from which, ye will do well. Be strong.