Acts 23
23
1Paul, looking sraight at the council, said, “Brothers, right up to now I have always conducted myself before God with a clear conscience.”
2Ananias the high priest ordered the officers standing beside Paul to hit him on the mouth.
3Paul said to him, “God will hit you, you whitewashed wall! You're sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet you order me to be hit in contravention of the law!”
4The officers standing beside Paul said, “How dare you insult the high priest!”
5“Brothers, I didn't know that he was the high priest,” Paul replied. “As Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any ruler of your people.’”#23:5. Quoting Exodus 22:28.
6When Paul realized that some of the council were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee! I'm on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead!”
7When he said this, a tremendous argument broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees that split the council. 8(The Sadducees say there is no resurrection from the dead, no angels, and no spirits, but Pharisees believe in all of these.)
9A great commotion erupted and some of the Pharisee teachers of the law stood up and argued fiercely, saying, “We find this man not guilty! Maybe a spirit spoke to him, or an angel!”
10The argument was getting out of hand, so the commander, concerned that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go and rescue him from them by force, and take him back into the fortress. 11Afterwards, during the night, the Lord stood by Paul, and told him, “Keep up your courage! Just as you have given your testimony about me in Jerusalem, so you must be my witness in Rome as well.”
12Next day some Jews plotted together, and they took an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13Over forty were part of this conspiracy.
14They went to the chief priests and leaders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15So you and the council should send word to the commander that he should bring Paul down to meet with you, as if you wanted to examine his case in more detail. We're ready to kill him along the way.”
16But Paul's nephew (his sister's son) heard about their planned ambush, and he went into the fortress and told Paul about it. 17Paul called over one of the centurions, and told him, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has some information to share with him.”
18So the centurion took Paul's nephew and brought him to the commander and told him, “The prisoner Paul called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” 19The commander took the young man by the hand and drew him aside. “What do you have to tell me?” he asked quietly.
20“The Jews have arranged to ask you to bring Paul to the council tomorrow, as if they wanted to ask more detailed questions about his case,” he explained. 21“Please don't listen to them, because they have planned to ambush him with more than forty men who have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They're ready right now, waiting for you to agree to the request.”
22The commander sent the young man on his way, warning him, “Don't tell anyone that you've told me about this.” 23He summoned two centurions and told them, “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea, together with seventy cavalry-men and two hundred spearmen. Be ready to leave at nine p.m. tonight. 24Provide horses for Paul to ride to make sure he gets to Governor Felix safely.”
25He also wrote a letter that went like this:
26“From Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor Felix, greetings! 27This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, when I arrived on the scene with soldiers and rescued him, because I had found out he was a Roman citizen. 28I wanted to know the reason for their accusations, so I took him before their council. 29I found out the charges against him had to do with issues regarding their law, but he was not guilty of anything that merited death or imprisonment. 30When I discovered a plot against this man I sent him to you right away, ordering his accusers to make their complaints before you.”
31So the soldiers followed their orders and took Paul overnight to Antipatris. 32The next morning they sent him on with the cavalry, and went back to the fortress.
33When the cavalry arrived at Caesarea they delivered the letter to the governor and brought Paul before him. 34After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from. When he learned he was from Cilicia he told Paul, 35“I will investigate your case when your accusers arrive.” He ordered Paul detained in Herod's palace.
Currently Selected:
Acts 23: FBV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Acts 23
23
1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I have always done my duty to God. To this day I feel that I have done nothing wrong.” 2Ananias the high priest heard this. So he ordered the men standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “You pretender! God will hit you! You sit there and judge me by the law. But you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to hit me!”
4Those who were standing near Paul spoke to him. They said, “How dare you talk like that to God’s high priest!”
5Paul replied, “Brothers, I didn’t realize he was the high priest. It is written, ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ ” (Exodus 22:28)
6Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I am a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial.” 7When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides. 8The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don’t believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.
9People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10The people arguing were getting out of control. The commanding officer was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him away from them by force. The officer had told them to bring Paul into the fort.
11The next night the Lord stood near Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must do the same in Rome.”
The Plan to Kill Paul
12The next morning some Jews gathered secretly to make plans against Paul. They made a promise to themselves. They promised that they would not eat or drink anything until they killed him. 13More than 40 men took part in this plan. 14They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said, “We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must make an appeal to the commanding officer. Ask him to bring Paul to you. Pretend you want more facts about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”
16But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. So he went into the fort and told Paul.
17Then Paul called one of the commanders. He said to him, “Take this young man to the commanding officer. He has something to tell him.” 18So the commander took Paul’s nephew to the officer.
The commander said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. The young man has something to tell you.”
19The commanding officer took the young man by the hand. He spoke to him in private. “What do you want to tell me?” the officer asked.
20He said, “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow. They will pretend they want more facts about him. 21Don’t give in to them. More than 40 of them are waiting in hiding to attack him. They have promised that they will not eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now. All they need is for you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin.”
22The commanding officer let the young man go. But he gave him a warning. “Don’t tell anyone you have reported this to me,” he said.
Paul Is Taken to Caesarea
23Then the commanding officer called for two of his commanders. He ordered them, “Gather a company of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 men armed with spears. Get them ready to go to Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. 24Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
25Here is the letter the officer wrote.
26I, Claudius Lysias, am writing this letter.
I am sending it to His Excellency, Governor Felix.
Greetings.
27The Jews grabbed Paul. They were about to kill him. But I came with my soldiers and saved him. I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28I wanted to know why they were bringing charges against him. So I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29I found out that the charge against him was based on questions about their law. But there was no charge against him worthy of death or prison. 30Then I was told about a plan against the man. So I sent him to you at once. I also ordered those bringing charges against him to present their case to you.
31The soldiers followed their orders. During the night they took Paul with them. They brought him as far as Antipatris. 32The next day they let the horsemen go on with him. The soldiers returned to the fort. 33The horsemen arrived in Caesarea. They gave the letter to the governor. Then they handed Paul over to him. 34The governor read the letter. He asked Paul where he was from. He learned that Paul was from Cilicia. 35So he said, “I will hear your case when those bringing charges against you get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.