⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(A) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(B)

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(A) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said:

² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.^(A)

¹³ When they finished, James^(A) spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.^{(B) 15} The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols,^(E) from sexual immorality,^(F) from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.^{(G) 21} For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”^(H)