23 Then
he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of
two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen[b] to go to
Caesarea at nine tonight. 24 Provide horses for Paul so that he
may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
25 He
wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius
Lysias,
To
His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This
man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my
troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28 I
wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin.
29 I found that the accusation had to do with questions about
their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or
imprisonment. 30 When I was informed of a plot to be carried
out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to
present to you their case against him.
31 So
the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night
and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day they let
the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. 33 When
the cavalry arrived in 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.
12 The
next morning some 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 taken 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 before you on the pretext of
wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him
before he gets here.”
16 But
when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, 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.
The
centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for 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 want to tell me?”
20 He
said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin
tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. 21 Don’t
give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him.
They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They
are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”
22 The
commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that
you have reported this to me.”
Paul
looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my
duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the
high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the
mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you
whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you
yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
4 Those
who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”
5 Paul
replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is
written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’[a]”
6 Then
Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called
out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees.
I stand on trial because of the hope of 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 that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees
believe all these things.)
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 and take him away from them by
force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The
following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have
testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”