Acts 23

Williams^{(i) 1} Paul fixed his eyes upon the council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty to God up to this very day." ² At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people standing near him to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, "You white-washed wall, God will strike you! Do you sit as a judge to try me in accordance with the law and yet in violation of the law you order them to strike me?" ⁴ The people standing near him said, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?" ⁵ Paul answered, "I did not know, brothers, that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You must not speak evil against any ruler of your people.'" ⁶ Because Paul knew that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, he began to cry out in the council chamber, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a Pharisee's son, and now I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead." ⁷ When he said that, an angry dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the crowded court was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection, and no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all of them. ⁹ So there was a vociferous yelling until some of the scribes, belonging to the party of the Pharisees, got up and fiercely contended, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or angel has really spoken to him!" ¹⁰ Since the dispute kept growing hotter and hotter, the colonel became alarmed that Paul might be torn in pieces by them, and so ordered the army to march down and take him out of their hands and bring him back to the barracks. ¹¹ But that same night the Lord stood by Paul's side and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify for me in Rome, too." ¹² After day had dawned, the Jews formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste a morsel till we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ So you and the council must now notify the colonel to bring him down to you, as though you were going to look into his case more carefully, but before he gets down we will be ready to kill him." ¹⁶ But Paul's nephew heard of the plot and came to the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ So Paul called one of the captains and said, "Take this young man to the colonel, for he has something to tell him." ¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the colonel and said, "The prisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you." ¹⁹ So the colonel took him by the arm, stepped to one side so as to be alone, and asked him, "What is it you have to tell me?" ²⁰ He answered, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though you were going to examine his case more carefully. ²¹ But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him; they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, just waiting for your promise." ²² So the colonel sent the young man away, with strict directions not to tell anybody that he had notified him of this plot. ²³ Then he called in two of his captains and said to them, "Get two hundred men ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy mounted soldiers and two hundred armed with spears, to leave at nine o'clock tonight." ²⁴ He further told them to provide horses for Paul to ride, so as to bring him in safety to Felix, the governor, to whom ²⁵ he wrote the following letter: ²⁶ "Claudius Lysias sends greetings to his Excellency Felix, the governor. ²⁷ This man had been seized by the Jews and they were on the point of killing him when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, because I had learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ As I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, I brought him before their council, ²⁹ and found him to be charged with questions about their law, but having no charge against him involving death or imprisonment. ³⁰ Because a plot against the man has been reported to me as brewing, I at once am sending him on to you and have directed his accusers to present their charge against him before you." ³¹ So the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and brought him by night as far as Antipatris. ³² The next day they returned to the barracks, leaving the mounted men to go on with him; ³³ they, on reaching Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor and turned Paul over to him, too. ³⁴ He read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from, and on learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, "I will carefully hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive." Then he ordered him to be kept in custody in Herod's palace.