Acts 23

¹ Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day."

² At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there judging me by the law, yet you yourself break the law by ordering me to be struck?"

⁴ Those standing nearby said, "How dare you insult God's high priest!"

⁵ Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize he was the high priest; for it is written: 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'"

⁶ Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead."

⁷ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸ (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)

⁹ There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

¹⁰ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near him and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."

¹² When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³ More than forty men were involved in this plot.

¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, "We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵ Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more closely. We are ready to kill him before he gets here."

¹⁶ But when the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him."

¹⁸ So he took him to the commander and said, "Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."

¹⁹ The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, "What is it you have to tell me?"

²⁰ He said, "Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, on the pretext of inquiring more closely about him.

²¹ Do not give in to them, because more than forty of them are lying in wait for him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent."

²² The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: "Do not tell anyone that you have reported this to me."

²³ Then he called two of his centurions and ordered, "Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight.

²⁴ Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix."

²⁵ He wrote a letter that read as follows:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷ This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but I came with the troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸ Wanting to know the reason they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin.

²⁹ I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment.

³⁰ When I was informed of a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present their case against him before you.

³¹ So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³² The next day they let the horsemen go on with him and returned to the barracks.

³³ When the horsemen came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

³⁴ The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵ he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace.