Acts 23
23
1And Paul having earnestly beheld the sanhedrim, said, ‘Men, brethren, I in all good conscience have lived to God unto this day;’
2and the chief priest Ananias commanded those standing by him to smite him on the mouth,
3then Paul said unto him, ‘God is about to smite thee, thou whitewashed wall, and thou — thou dost sit judging me according to the law, and, violating law, dost order me to be smitten!’
4And those who stood by said, ‘The chief priest of God dost thou revile?’
5and Paul said, ‘I did not know, brethren, that he is chief priest: for it hath been written, Of the ruler of thy people thou shalt not speak evil;’
6and Paul having known that the one part are Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the sanhedrim, ‘Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee — son of a Pharisee — concerning hope and rising again of dead men I am judged.’
7And he having spoken this, there came a dissension of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, and the crowd was divided,
8for Sadducees, indeed, say there is no rising again, nor messenger, nor spirit, but Pharisees confess both.
9And there came a great cry, and the scribes of the Pharisees' part having arisen, were striving, saying, ‘No evil do we find in this man; and if a spirit spake to him, or a messenger, we may not fight against God;’
10and a great dissension having come, the chief captain having been afraid lest Paul may be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiery, having gone down, to take him by force out of the midst of them, and to bring [him] to the castle.
11And on the following night, the Lord having stood by him, said, ‘Take courage, Paul, for as thou didst fully testify the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so it behoveth thee also at Rome to testify.’
12And day having come, certain of the Jews having made a concourse, did anathematize themselves, saying neither to eat nor to drink till they may kill Paul;
13and they were more than forty who made this conspiracy by oath,
14who having come near to the chief priests and to the elders said, ‘With an anathema we did anathematize ourselves — to taste nothing till we have killed Paul;
15now, therefore, ye, signify ye to the chief captain, with the sanhedrim, that to-morrow he may bring him down unto you, as being about to know more exactly the things concerning him; and we, before his coming nigh, are ready to put him to death.’
16And the son of Paul's sister having heard of the lying in wait, having gone and entered into the castle, told Paul,
17and Paul having called near one of the centurions, said, ‘This young man lead unto the chief captain, for he hath something to tell him.’
18He indeed, then, having taken him, brought him unto the chief captain, and saith, ‘The prisoner Paul, having called me near, asked [me] this young man to bring unto thee, having something to say to thee.’
19And the chief captain having taken him by the hand, and having withdrawn by themselves, inquired, ‘What is that which thou hast to tell me?’
20and he said — ‘The Jews agreed to request thee, that to-morrow to the sanhedrim thou mayest bring down Paul, as being about to enquire something more exactly concerning him;
21thou, therefore, mayest thou not yield to them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who did anathematize themselves — not to eat nor to drink till they kill him, and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from thee.’
22The chief captain, then, indeed, let the young man go, having charged [him] to tell no one, ‘that these things thou didst shew unto me;’
23and having called near a certain two of the centurions, he said, ‘Make ready soldiers two hundred, that they may go on unto Caesarea, and horsemen seventy, and spearmen two hundred, from the third hour of the night;
24beasts also provide, that, having set Paul on, they may bring him safe unto Felix the governor;’
25he having written a letter after this description:
26‘Claudius Lysias, to the most noble governor Felix, hail:
27This man having been taken by the Jews, and being about to be killed by them — having come with the soldiery, I rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman;
28and, intending to know the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their sanhedrim,
29whom I found accused concerning questions of their law, and having no accusation worthy of death or bonds;
30and a plot having been intimated to me against this man — about to be of the Jews — at once I sent unto thee, having given command also to the accusers to say the things against him before thee; be strong.’
31Then, indeed, the soldiers according to that directed them, having taken up Paul, brought him through the night to Antipatris,
32and on the morrow, having suffered the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the castle;
33those having entered into Caesarea, and delivered the letter to the governor, did present also Paul to him.
34And the governor having read [it], and inquired of what province he is, and understood that [he is] from Cilicia;
35‘I will hear thee — said he — when thine accusers also may have come;’ he also commanded him to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.
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Acts 23: YLT98
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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.
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