Shared Word Translation
Acts 23
Paul Before the Council
And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Men, brothers, I have lived before God with all good conscience until this day.” And the high priest Ananias commanded those standing by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! And do you sit judging me according to the law, and contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” And those standing by said, “Do you revile the high priest of God?”
And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
But Paul, knowing that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council, “Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged.”
And when he said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both.
And a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the party of the Pharisees stood up and were contending, saying, “We find nothing evil in this man; what if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
And when a great dissension arose, the tribune, fearing that Paul might be torn apart by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks.
And on the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
The Plot to Kill Paul
And when it became day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. And there were more than forty who made this conspiracy.
And they came to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, together with the council, notify the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more accurately; and we, before he comes near, are ready to kill him.”
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and coming and entering into the barracks, he reported it to Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.”
So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, who has something to say to you.” And the tribune took him by the hand, and going aside, he inquired privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”
And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the council, as though they are about to inquire something more accurately about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty men of them are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”
So the tribune dismissed the young man, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have reported these things to me.”
And calling two of the centurions, he said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, at the third hour of the night; also provide mounts so that they may set Paul on them and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
And he wrote a letter having this form: “Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings.
This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman. And wanting to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council, whom I found to be accused concerning questions of their law, but having no charge deserving death or imprisonment.
And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, also instructing his accusers to speak against him before you.”
Therefore the soldiers, according to what had been commanded to them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the next day they returned to the barracks, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, who, when they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, also presented Paul before him.
And reading it, he asked from what province he was, and learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear you fully when your accusers also arrive.” And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s praetorium.