It is possible that James’ words express a decree issued by him (so Lake “I decree”), but the words more naturally mean it is my opinion (“in my opinion” An American Translation*, Moffatt). It is important at this point to introduce James as the speaker, and hence a phrase such as James went on is necessary. In some languages this is literally “James continued to speak” or “this is then what James said.” At this point one may need to indicate that the following are James’ own words rather than being his quotation from the prophet Amos speaking on behalf of the Lord.

Trouble the Gentiles may be equivalent to “cause difficulty for the Gentiles” or “bother the Gentiles.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .