ACT 23
23
1 Paul fixed his gaze directly on the members of the Sanhedrin and declared, "Brothers, throughout my entire life I have lived before God with a conscience that is completely unblemished, right up to this present moment."
2 When he said this, the high priest Ananias ordered the attendants standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
3 Paul responded, "God is going to strike you down, you hypocrite! You sit there claiming to judge me according to the Law, yet you yourself break the Law by ordering me to be struck illegally?"
4 The attendants standing nearby protested, "How dare you speak insultingly to God's high priest?"
5 Paul answered, "Brothers, I was not aware that he was the high priest. The Scripture says, 'You must not speak disrespectfully about a leader of your people.'"
6 Recognising that the council was divided between Sadducees and Pharisees, Paul deliberately called out, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, born into a family of Pharisees. The real issue in my trial is the hope that the dead will be resurrected."
7 The moment Paul said this, a heated argument erupted between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly became deeply divided.
8 The Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and that angels and spirits do not exist, while the Pharisees affirm the reality of all these things.
9 The shouting became intense, and some of the legal experts from the Pharisee faction stood up and argued forcefully, "We find this man completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him?"
10 The dispute grew so violent that the commander feared Paul would be literally torn apart by the opposing factions. He ordered his troops to forcibly take away Paul from the midst of the council and return him to the military compound.
11 That night the Lord appeared and stood beside Paul, saying, "Be courageous! Just as you have testified faithfully about Me here in Jerusalem, you must also testify in Rome."
The Conspiracy to Kill Paul
12 When morning came, a group of Jews organized a conspiracy and placed themselves under a sacred oath, vowing that they would neither eat nor drink anything until they had successfully killed Paul.
13 More than forty men participated in forming this assassination plot.
14 They approached the chief priests and elders and announced, "We have bound ourselves with a solemn curse not to consume any food until we have murdered Paul.
15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin should send a request to the commander asking him to bring Paul back before you, claiming you need to examine his case more thoroughly. We will be prepared to ambush and kill him before he reaches you."
16 However, Paul's nephew—the son of his sister—learned about the planned ambush. He went directly to the military barracks and informed Paul.
17 Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, "Please escort this young man to the commander. He has important information to report."
18 So the centurion took him to the commander, explaining, "The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something significant to tell you."
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, led him aside privately, and asked, "What information do you have for me?"
20 The young man explained, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow, supposedly to conduct a more detailed inquiry into his situation.
21 Please do not comply with their request, because more than forty men are waiting in ambush to attack him. They have sworn a sacred oath not to eat or drink until they have murdered him. They are already in position, just waiting for your authorisation."
22 The commander dismissed the young man with strict instructions: "Do not tell anyone that you have revealed this information to me."
Paul to Appear Before Felix
23 The commander immediately summoned two of his centurions and ordered, "Prepare a detachment of two hundred infantry soldiers, along with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen, to depart for Caesarea at the third hour of the night, at nine o'clock tonight.
24 Also provide horses for Paul to ride, ensuring his safe delivery to Governor Felix."
25 He composed a letter with the following content:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This individual was seized by the Jewish mob, and they were on the verge of killing him when I arrived with my troops and rescued him after learning he possessed Roman citizenship.
28 Desiring to understand the basis for their accusations against him, I brought him before their council.
29 I discovered that their accusations concerned disputes about their religious Law, but there was absolutely no charge that merited either death or imprisonment.
30 When I received intelligence about a plot to assassinate this man, I immediately sent him to you and instructed his accusers to present their case against him directly to you.
31 Following their orders, the soldiers took custody of Paul and transported him under cover of darkness to Antipatris.
32 The next day the infantry returned to the barracks while the cavalry continued escorting Paul the rest of the way.
33 Upon arriving in Caesarea, the cavalry delivered the letter to the governor and formally presented Paul to him.
34 After reading the letter, the governor inquired about Paul's province of origin. Upon learning he was from Cilicia,
35 he declared, "I will conduct a formal hearing once your accusers arrive." He then ordered Paul to be detained under guard in Herod's palace.
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ACT 23: AFINT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ACT 23
23
1 Paul fixed his gaze directly on the members of the Sanhedrin and declared, "Brothers, throughout my entire life I have lived before God with a conscience that is completely unblemished, right up to this present moment."
2 When he said this, the high priest Ananias ordered the attendants standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
3 Paul responded, "God is going to strike you down, you hypocrite! You sit there claiming to judge me according to the Law, yet you yourself break the Law by ordering me to be struck illegally?"
4 The attendants standing nearby protested, "How dare you speak insultingly to God's high priest?"
5 Paul answered, "Brothers, I was not aware that he was the high priest. The Scripture says, 'You must not speak disrespectfully about a leader of your people.'"
6 Recognising that the council was divided between Sadducees and Pharisees, Paul deliberately called out, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, born into a family of Pharisees. The real issue in my trial is the hope that the dead will be resurrected."
7 The moment Paul said this, a heated argument erupted between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly became deeply divided.
8 The Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and that angels and spirits do not exist, while the Pharisees affirm the reality of all these things.
9 The shouting became intense, and some of the legal experts from the Pharisee faction stood up and argued forcefully, "We find this man completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him?"
10 The dispute grew so violent that the commander feared Paul would be literally torn apart by the opposing factions. He ordered his troops to forcibly take away Paul from the midst of the council and return him to the military compound.
11 That night the Lord appeared and stood beside Paul, saying, "Be courageous! Just as you have testified faithfully about Me here in Jerusalem, you must also testify in Rome."
The Conspiracy to Kill Paul
12 When morning came, a group of Jews organized a conspiracy and placed themselves under a sacred oath, vowing that they would neither eat nor drink anything until they had successfully killed Paul.
13 More than forty men participated in forming this assassination plot.
14 They approached the chief priests and elders and announced, "We have bound ourselves with a solemn curse not to consume any food until we have murdered Paul.
15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin should send a request to the commander asking him to bring Paul back before you, claiming you need to examine his case more thoroughly. We will be prepared to ambush and kill him before he reaches you."
16 However, Paul's nephew—the son of his sister—learned about the planned ambush. He went directly to the military barracks and informed Paul.
17 Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, "Please escort this young man to the commander. He has important information to report."
18 So the centurion took him to the commander, explaining, "The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something significant to tell you."
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, led him aside privately, and asked, "What information do you have for me?"
20 The young man explained, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow, supposedly to conduct a more detailed inquiry into his situation.
21 Please do not comply with their request, because more than forty men are waiting in ambush to attack him. They have sworn a sacred oath not to eat or drink until they have murdered him. They are already in position, just waiting for your authorisation."
22 The commander dismissed the young man with strict instructions: "Do not tell anyone that you have revealed this information to me."
Paul to Appear Before Felix
23 The commander immediately summoned two of his centurions and ordered, "Prepare a detachment of two hundred infantry soldiers, along with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen, to depart for Caesarea at the third hour of the night, at nine o'clock tonight.
24 Also provide horses for Paul to ride, ensuring his safe delivery to Governor Felix."
25 He composed a letter with the following content:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This individual was seized by the Jewish mob, and they were on the verge of killing him when I arrived with my troops and rescued him after learning he possessed Roman citizenship.
28 Desiring to understand the basis for their accusations against him, I brought him before their council.
29 I discovered that their accusations concerned disputes about their religious Law, but there was absolutely no charge that merited either death or imprisonment.
30 When I received intelligence about a plot to assassinate this man, I immediately sent him to you and instructed his accusers to present their case against him directly to you.
31 Following their orders, the soldiers took custody of Paul and transported him under cover of darkness to Antipatris.
32 The next day the infantry returned to the barracks while the cavalry continued escorting Paul the rest of the way.
33 Upon arriving in Caesarea, the cavalry delivered the letter to the governor and formally presented Paul to him.
34 After reading the letter, the governor inquired about Paul's province of origin. Upon learning he was from Cilicia,
35 he declared, "I will conduct a formal hearing once your accusers arrive." He then ordered Paul to be detained under guard in Herod's palace.
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).