Acts 23

1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I’ve always done my duty to God. To this day I feel that I have done nothing wrong.” 2When Ananias the high priest heard this, he ordered the men standing near Paul to strike him on the face. 3Paul said to him, “You hypocrite! God’s going to strike you! You sit there and judge me by the law, but you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to strike me.”

4Those who were standing near Paul 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.’ ”

6Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I’m a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I’m on trial because I believe that people will rise from the dead.” 7When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue, and the Sanhedrin split into two different sides. 8The Sadducees say that people don’t rise from the dead, and they also don’t believe in angels or spirits. But the Pharisees believe all those things.

9They were all shouting loudly. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued sharply. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10The people arguing were getting so out of control that the commander began to worry that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered some soldiers to take him away from them by force and bring him into the fort.

11The next night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Don’t be afraid! You’ve told people about me in Jerusalem, and you must do the same in Rome.”

The Plan to Kill Paul

12The next morning some Jews gathered secretly to conspire against Paul. They all promised that they wouldn’t eat or drink anything until they had killed him. 13More than 40 men joined in these plans. 14They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We’ve made a special promise to God not to eat anything until we’ve killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must ask the commander to bring Paul back to you. Pretend that you want more facts about his case. We’re ready to kill him before he gets here.”

16But Paul’s nephew found out about this plan. He went into the fort and told him about it.

17Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him.” 18So the officer took Paul’s nephew to the commander.

The officer said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

19The commander took the young man off to one side so he could speak with him privately. “What do you want to tell me?” he asked.

20Paul’s nephew answered, “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow. They’re pretending they want more facts about him. 21But don’t let them persuade you, because more than 40 of them will be hiding and waiting to attack him. They’ve promised that they won’t eat or drink anything until they’ve killed him. They’re ready now, just waiting for you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin.”

22The commander sent the young man away after warning him, “Don’t tell anyone you’ve reported this to me.”

Paul Is Taken to Caesarea

23Then the commander called for two of his officers. 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 to ride so that he can be taken safely to Governor Felix.”

25Then the commander wrote this letter:

26From Claudius Lysias.

To His Excellency, Governor Felix.

Greetings.

27The man I’m sending you was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him. But I came with my soldiers and rescued him, because I had learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28I wanted to know what they were accusing him of doing, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29I found out that their charges against him were based on questions about their law. They weren’t accusing him of anything that deserved death or prison. 30Then I was told that they’d made a plan to kill him. So I sent him to you at once. I also ordered those who were accusing him to present their case to you.

31The soldiers followed their orders and took Paul with them that night. They brought him as far as Antipatris. 32The next day they sent the horsemen on with him while they returned to the fort. 33When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34The governor read the letter and asked Paul where he was from. When he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, 35he said, “I’ll hear your case when the people who are accusing you get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

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