Thematic Bible: Council


Thematic Bible



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

Moreover Ahithophel said unto 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 that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only. Thus will I turn all the people back unto thee, and when they have returned (for that man is whom thou dost seek), all the people shall be in peace. read more.
And this word seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and of all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, Now call Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us likewise hear what he says. And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Thus spoke Ahithophel; shall we follow his word or not? Speak thou. Then Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good. For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, 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 if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. Thus even the valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men. Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto 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. Then 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 that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one. Moreover, if he goes into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until not even one small stone is found there. Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai, the Archite, is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had given orders to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. Then Hushai said unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled.

Then certain men who came down from Judaea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And they, being accompanied by some from the congregation , passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. read more.
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received by the congregation and by the apostles and elders, and they declared all the things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God chose that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? For we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what great miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon has declared how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return and will restore the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will repair its ruins, and I will set it up again, that the men that are left might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who does all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Therefore my sentence is that those from among the Gentiles who are converted to God not be troubled, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood. For Moses of old time has in every city those that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole congregation , to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, principal men among the brethren; and they wrote letters by them after this manner: The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia; forasmuch as we have heard that certain ones who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment, it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from foods offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.