Acts 21:21

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But they have been informed about you—that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

King James Version (1611)
And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Iewes which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, saying, that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walke after the customes.

King James Version
And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

English Standard Version
and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

New American Standard Bible
and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

New Century Version
They have heard about your teaching, that you tell our people who live among the nations to leave the law of Moses. They have heard that you tell them not to circumcise their children and not to obey customs.

Amplified Bible
"Now they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are living among the Gentiles to turn away from [the Law of] Moses, advising them not to circumcise their children or to live according to the [Mosaic] customs.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

Legacy Standard Bible
and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

Berean Standard Bible
But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.

Contemporary English Version
But they have been told that you are teaching those who live among the Gentiles to disobey this Law. They claim that you are telling them not to circumcise their sons or to follow Jewish customs.

Complete Jewish Bible
Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a b'rit-milah for their sons and not to follow the traditions.

Darby Translation
And they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews among the nations apostasy from Moses, saying that they should not circumcise their children, nor walk in the customs.

Easy-to-Read Version
They have been told that you teach the Jews who live in non-Jewish regions to stop following the Law of Moses. They have heard that you tell them not to circumcise their sons or follow our other customs.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Now they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Iewes, which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, and sayest that they ought not to circumcise their sonnes, neither to liue after the customes.

George Lamsa Translation
But they have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses, stating that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to follow after the customs of the law.

Good News Translation
They have been told that you have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries to abandon the Law of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the Jewish customs.

Lexham English Bible
And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles the abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

Literal Translation
And they were informed about you, that you teach falling away from Moses, telling all the Jews throughout the nations not to circumcise their children, nor to walk in the customs.

American Standard Version
and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

Bible in Basic English
And they have had news of you, how you have been teaching all the Jews among the Gentiles to give up the law of Moses, and not to give circumcision to their children, and not to keep the old rules.

Hebrew Names Version
They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Yehudim who are among the Goyim to forsake Moshe, telling them not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs.

International Standard Version
But they have been told about you - that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

Etheridge Translation
But it hath been said to them of thee, that thou teachest all the Jihudoyee who are among the Gentiles to remove from Musha; telling them that they should not circumcise their sons, nor walk in the customs of the law.

Murdock Translation
And it hath been told them, of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews that are among the Gentiles to depart from Moses, by telling them not to circumcise their children, and not to observe the rites of the law.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they are infourmed of thee, that thou teachest all the Iewes whiche are among the Gentiles to forsake Moyses, and sayest that they ought not to circucise their chyldren, neither to walke after the customes.

English Revised Version
and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

World English Bible
They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest the Jews who are among the Gentiles, to apostatize from Moses, telling them, not to circumcise their children, nor to walk after the customs.

Weymouth's New Testament
Now what they have been repeatedly told about you is that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, and that you forbid them to circumcise their children or observe old-established customs.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei herden of thee, that thou techist departing fro Moises of thilk Jewis that ben bi hethene men, that seien, that thei owen not circumcide her sones, nether owen to entre by custom.

Update Bible Version
and they have been informed concerning you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they are informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying, That they ought not to circumcise [their] children, neither to walk after the customs.

New English Translation
They have been informed about you—that you teach all the Jews now living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.

New King James Version
but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

New Living Translation
But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They've heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs.

New Life Bible
They have heard about you. They have heard you teach the Jews who live among people who are not Jews. They have heard you teach them to break away from the Law of Moses. They say you are telling them not to do the religious act of becoming a Jew and not to follow old religious ways of worship.

New Revised Standard
They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now they have heard it rumoured concerning thee, that, an apostacy, art thou teaching, from Moses, unto all the Jews, who are among the nations, telling them not to be circumcising their children, nor, by the customs, to be walking.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now they have heard of thee that thou teachest those Jews, who are among the Gentiles to depart from Moses: saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, nor walk according to the custom.

Revised Standard Version
and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And they are informed of the that thou teachest all the Iewes which are amoge the gentyls to forsake Moses and sayst that they ought not to circumcise their chyldren nether to live after the customes.

Young's Literal Translation
and they are instructed concerning thee, that apostacy from Moses thou dost teach to all Jews among the nations, saying -- Not to circumcise the children, nor after the customs to walk;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But they are enfourmed agaynst the, that thou teachest all the Iewes which are amoge the Heythe, to forsake Moses, and sayest that they oughte not to circumcyse their children, ner to walke after the same custome.

Mace New Testament (1729)
now they have heard that you instruct the Jews that are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, by telling them they must not circumcise their children, nor observe the establish'd rites.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Rumors are spreading, Paul, that you are teaching the mavericks that they don't have to have their pickles clipped or follow any other of the Jewish customs.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵It wasn't long before we had our luggage together and were on our way to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and took us to the home of Mnason, who received us warmly as his guests. A native of Cyprus, he had been among the earliest disciples. ¹⁷In Jerusalem, our friends, glad to see us, received us with open arms. The first thing next morning, we took Paul to see James. All the church leaders were there. After a time of greeting and small talk, Paul told the story, detail by detail, of what God had done among the non-Jewish people through his ministry. They listened with delight and gave God the glory. ²⁰They had a story to tell, too: "And just look at what's been happening here—thousands upon thousands of God-fearing Jews have become believers in Jesus! But there's also a problem because they are more zealous than ever in observing the laws of Moses. They've been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded by unbelieving outsiders to go light on Moses, telling them that they don't need to circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isn't sitting at all well with them. ²²"We're worried about what will happen when they discover you're in town. There's bound to be trouble. So here is what we want you to do: There are four men from our company who have taken a vow involving ritual purification, but have no money to pay the expenses. Join these men in their vows and pay their expenses. Then it will become obvious to everyone that there is nothing to the rumors going around about you and that you are in fact scrupulous in your reverence for the laws of Moses. ²⁵ "In asking you to do this, we're not going back on our agreement regarding non-Jews who have become believers. We continue to hold fast to what we wrote in that letter, namely, to be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; to avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians; to guard the morality of sex and marriage." ²⁶ So Paul did it—took the men, joined them in their vows, and paid their way. The next day he went to the Temple to make it official and stay there until the proper sacrifices had been offered and completed for each of them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that thou: Acts 6:13, Acts 6:14, Acts 16:3, Acts 28:17, Romans 14:1-6, 1 Corinthians 9:19-21, Galatians 5:1-6, Galatians 6:12-15

Reciprocal: Mark 7:5 - General John 7:35 - the dispersed Acts 21:28 - This is Acts 26:3 - because 1 Corinthians 11:16 - such Galatians 4:12 - be Galatians 5:11 - why

Cross-References

Numbers 13:3
So Moses sent them off from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of God . All of them were leaders in Israel, one from each tribe. These were their names: from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur from Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori from Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh from Issachar: Igal son of Joseph from Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun from Benjamin: Palti son of Raphu from Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi from Manasseh (a Joseph tribe): Gaddi son of Susi from Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli from Asher: Sethur son of Michael from Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi from Gad: Geuel son of Maki.

Numbers 13:26
They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip: "We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan." Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land—now. We can do it." But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are." They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."

1 Samuel 25:1
Samuel died. The whole country came to his funeral. Everyone grieved over his death, and he was buried in his hometown of Ramah. Meanwhile, David moved again, this time to the wilderness of Maon.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they are informed of thee,.... By persons that came from the several parts of the Gentile world, where the apostle had been preaching; and by letters which came from the Jews in those parts, who were no friends to the apostle's ministry:

that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses: or "apostatize from Moses"; that is, the law of Moses; that he taught the Gentiles not to regard the rituals of the law of Moses gave them no uneasiness; but that he should teach the Jews that were scattered among the Gentiles, and as many of them that believed in Christ, to disregard and drop the observance of them, who had been always brought up in them, this they could not bear; and that the apostle so taught, they had credible information: particularly,

saying, that they ought not to circumcise their children; though this does not appear; it is true the apostle taught that circumcision was abolished, and that it was nothing; yea, that to submit to it as necessary to salvation, was hurtful and pernicious; but as a thing indifferent, he allowed of it among weak brethren; and in condescension to their weakness, did administer it himself; in which he became a Jew to the Jew, that he might gain some:

neither to walk after the customs; either of the law of Moses, meaning other rites there enjoined, besides circumcision; or of their fathers, and their country, the traditions of the elders, which as yet they had not got clear of; the disuse of old customs is not easily brought about, or it is not easy to bring persons off of them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they are informed of thee - Reports respecting the conduct of Paul would be likely to be in circulation among all at Jerusalem. His remarkable conversion, his distinguished zeal, his success among the Gentiles, would make his conduct a subject of special interest. Evil-minded men among the Jews, who came up to Jerusalem from different places where he had been, would be likely to represent him as the decided enemy of the laws of Moses, and these reports would be likely to reach the ears of the Jewish converts. The reports, as they gained ground, would be greatly magnified, until suspicion might be excited among the Christians at Jerusalem that he was, as he was reputed to be, the settled foe of the Jewish rites and customs.

That thou teachest all the Jews ... - From all the evidence which we have of his conduct, this report was incorrect and slanderous. The truth appears to have been, that he did not enjoin the observance of those laws on the Gentile converts; that the effect of his ministry on them was to lead them to suppose that their observance was not necessary - contrary to the doctrines of the Judaizing teachers (see Acts 15:0); and that he argued with the Jews themselves, where it could be done, against the obligation of those laws and customs since the Messiah had come. The Jews depended on their observance for justification and salvation. This Paul strenuously opposed; and this view he defended at length in the Epistles which he wrote. See the Epistles to the Romans, the Galatians, and the Hebrews. Yet these facts might be easily misunderstood and perverted, so as to give rise to the slanderous report that he was the enemy of Moses and the Law.

Which are among the Gentiles - Who live in pagan countries. The Jews were extensively scattered and settled in all the large towns and cities of the Roman empire.

To forsake Moses - The Law and the authority of Moses. That is, to regard his laws as no longer binding.

To walk after the customs - To observe the institutions of the Mosaic ritual. See the notes on Acts 6:14. The word “customs” denotes “the rites of the Mosaic economy the offering of sacrifices, incense, the oblations, anointings, festivals, etc., which the Law of Moses prescribed.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 21:21. Thou teachest - to forsake Moses, c.] From any thing that appears in the course of this book to the contrary, this information was incorrect: we do not find Paul preaching thus to the Jews. It is true that, in his epistles, some of which had been written before this time, he showed that circumcision and uncircumcision were equally unavailable for the salvation, of the soul, and that by the deeds of the law no man could be justified but he had not yet said to any Jew, forsake Moses, and do not circumcise your children. He told them that Jesus Christ had delivered them from the yoke of the law; but they had, as yet, liberty to wear that yoke, if they pleased. He had shown them that their ceremonies were useless but not destructive; that they were only dangerous when they depended on them for salvation. This is the sum of what Paul had taught on this subject.