35 As they reached the steps, the crowd became so wild that the soldiers had to lift Paul up and carry him.
36 The crowd followed and kept shouting, “Kill him! Kill him!”
37 When Paul was about to be taken into the fortress, he asked the commander, “Can I say something to you?”“How do you know Greek?” the commander asked.
38 “Aren't you that Egyptian who started a riot not long ago and led four thousand terrorists into the desert?”
39 “No!” Paul replied. “I am a Jew from Tarsus, an important city in Cilicia. Please let me speak to the crowd.”
40 The commander told him he could speak, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people. When they were quiet, he spoke to them in Aramaic: