“We, the apostles and the elders, your brothers, send greetings to all our brothers of Gentile birth who live in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. ²⁴ We have heard that some who went from our group have troubled and upset you by what they said; they had not, however, received any instruction from us. ²⁵ And so we have met together and have all agreed to choose some messengers and send them to you. They will go with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ We send you, then, Judas and Silas, who will tell you in person the same things we are writing. ²⁸ The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: ²⁹     eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes.”