Then the Ambassadors and Seniors took thought without the whole assembly, having selected men from them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, men eminent among the brothers, having written by their hand:
The Ambassadors and the Seniors, brothers, to those in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, brothers out of the nations, cheers. Since we have heard that some having gone forth from us agitated you by words, disrupting your souls, telling [you] to be circumcised and to keep the law, to whom we had not given orders, we took thought, having become unanimous, having selected men to send to you with Paul and Barnabas, to whom we are devoted, people who had handed over their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus we have sent Judas and Silas, that they by word may report on the same. For the Holy Spirit and we took thought to lay no further weight upon you, save these essentials: to keep distance from the idolatrous, and from bloodshed and strangling, and from whoredom. Watching yourself with respect to these things, you will do well. Be strong.
[Acts 15:22-29, my very rough translation. 'Ambassadors and Seniors', of course, is a very literal translation; it is usually translated as 'apostles and elders'; 'assembly' could also be translated as 'church'. It's interesting that edoxe and its cognates, here translated as 'took thought', keeps coming up in this short passage -- it's found three times (the apostles and elders took thought with the assembly, then this is said again in the epistle, and then the content of what they have decided is marked by 'the Holy Spirit and we took thought'. Because it's actually in passive form, it's often translated as 'it seemed to' or 'it was supposed by'. 'Cheers' is also very literal, although I note that 'cheers' is in many parts of the English-speaking world used as a greeting or sign-off in exactly the way chairein is. Chairen and similar words are common in salutations in letters in ancient Greek.
The epistle is quite condensed. My suspicion is that it is deliberately so; the whole point of the letter is not to decide the matter by letter but to authorize Judas Barsabbas and Silas to speak authoritatively on the subject. There's a nice parallelism in the letter to emphasize that, in fact: as people who had no orders from the apostles and elders had agitated the Gentile believers with their words, so Judas and Silas, who are commissioned by the apostles and elders (literally, sent, but it's the verb that gives us the word 'apostle', and it often means a legal authorization to represent, as with an ambassador), will resolve the matter by their words. The letter is a letter of commission, not a doctrinal letter.
It's difficult for me to know how to translate the summary of what Judas and Silas will be speaking of, because it could be translated as laying a very strict charge or as simply providing a general warning. That is, while it's literally said that they should distance themselves from the idolatrous, bloodshed and strangling, and harlotry, as in English, this could mean either that they should abstain strictly and entirely or that they should avoid it as much as possible. Likewise with what is here translated somewhat literally as 'watching yourself'. It would make sense in context that they are being charged to avoid these things entirely, and this is both a very plausible translation and the way it is usually understood, but it is technically not what is explicitly said, and it could also be that the apostles and elders are deliberately not tying down Judas and Silas to an exact position, if it turned out that they discovered unusual circumstances that required a more nuanced approach.
Because of the immediate dispute, the three things to avoid are often given by commentators a specifically ritual significance -- the nations are to avoid certain pagan religious practices. But I can't help note the similarity between this list and later lists made by Jewish rabbis of things that must be avoided by Jews under any and all circumstances (idolatry, murder, adultery) and of laws that are binding even on the Gentiles. I think the point is that these are fundamental defilements, whatever the circumstances, and to be avoided by anyone who reveres God. If this is the case, the point of the apostles and elders is that what is required of the Gentiles is not to circumcise according to the law of Moses but to be God-fearing by avoiding what God regards as an abomination.
The ending, Errosthe, means 'Have strength' or 'Have health'; it can also just mean 'farewell' or 'goodbye'. Are the apostles and elders just signing off, or did they pick this particular farewell for a purpose rather than as a mere formality, to encourage the Gentile believers to be strong? It's impossible to say on the evidence.]
