Acts 23
23
1And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. 2And the high priest Anani´as commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3#Matt 23.27,28. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? 4And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? 5#Exod 22.28. Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
6 #
Acts 26.5; Phil 3.5. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. 7And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. 8#Matt 22.23; Mark 12.18; Luke 20.27. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 9And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. 10And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
11And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
The Plot against Paul's Life
12And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. 14And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. 15Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
16And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. 17Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. 18So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. 19Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me? 20And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 21But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. 22So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast showed these things to me.
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
23And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesare´a, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; 24and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. 25And he wrote a letter after this manner:
26Claudius Lys´i-as unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. 27This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. 28And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council: 29whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. 30And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.
31Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antip´atris. 32On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: 33who, when they came to Caesare´a, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. 34And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cili´cia; 35I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
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Acts 23: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Acts 23
23
1Paul looked at the council members and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in a good way before God. I have always done what I thought was right.” 2Ananias,#23:2 Ananias Not the same man named Ananias in Acts 22:12. the high priest, was there. When he heard this, he told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him in the mouth. 3Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you too! You are like a dirty wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the Law of Moses. But you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”
4The men standing near Paul said to him, “Are you sure you want to insult God’s high priest like that?”
5Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. The Scriptures say, ‘You must not say bad things about a leader of your people.’#Quote from Ex. 22:28.”
6Paul knew that some of the men in the council meeting were Sadducees and some were Pharisees. So he shouted, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from death.”
7When Paul said this, a big argument started between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The group was divided. 8(The Sadducees believe that after people die, they will not live again as an angel or as a spirit. But the Pharisees believe in both.) 9All these Jews began shouting louder and louder. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe an angel or a spirit really did speak to him.”
10The argument turned into a fight, and the commander was afraid that the Jews would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away from these Jews and put him in the army building.
11The next night the Lord Jesus came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.”
Some Jews Plan to Kill Paul
12The next morning some of the Jews made a plan to kill Paul. They made a promise to themselves that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him. 13There were more than 40 of them who made this plan. 14They went and talked to the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders. They said, “We have promised ourselves that we will not eat or drink until we have killed Paul. 15So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander from you and the high council. Tell him you want him to bring Paul out to you. Say that you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”
16But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. He went to the army building and told Paul. 17Then Paul called one of the army officers and said to him, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.” 18So the army officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander. The officer said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19The commander led the young man to a place where they could be alone. The commander asked, “What do you want to tell me?”
20The young man said, “Some Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think that they plan to ask Paul more questions. 21But don’t believe them! More than 40 of them are hiding and waiting to kill him. They have all promised not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to say yes.”
22The commander sent the young man away, telling him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23Then the commander called two army officers. He said to them, “I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get 200 soldiers ready. Also, get 70 soldiers on horses and 200 men to carry spears. Be ready to leave at nine o’clock tonight. 24Get some horses for Paul to ride so that he can be taken to Governor Felix safely.” 25The commander wrote a letter that said:
26From Claudius Lysias,
To the Most Honorable Governor Felix.
Greetings:
27Some Jews had taken this man and planned to kill him. But I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and saved him. 28I wanted to know why they were accusing him. So I brought him before their council meeting. 29This is what I learned: The Jews said this man did some things that were wrong. But these charges were about their own Jewish laws, and there was nothing worthy of jail or death. 30I was told that some of the Jews were making a plan to kill him. So I decided to send him to you. I also told those Jews to tell you what they have against him.
31The soldiers did what they were told. They got Paul and took him to the city of Antipatris that night. 32The next day the soldiers on horses went with Paul to Caesarea, but the other soldiers and the spearmen went back to the army building in Jerusalem. 33The soldiers on horses entered Caesarea, gave the letter to Governor Felix, and then turned Paul over to him.
34The governor read the letter and asked Paul, “What country are you from?” The governor learned that Paul was from Cilicia. 35The governor said, “I will hear your case when the Jews who are accusing you come here too.” Then the governor gave orders for Paul to be kept in the palace built by Herod.
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