Before the Sanhedrin
1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2At that the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near him to strike him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me by the law, and you break the law by ordering me to be struck?” 4Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare insult the high priest of God?” 5Paul answered, “I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. It is written: ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” 6Then Paul, knowing that one part of them were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is over the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7The moment he said this, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was split. 8For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and no angel or spirit; the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9A great shouting followed, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and argued fiercely: “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?” 10The dispute grew so violent that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces, ordered his troops to go down, take him out of their hands by force and bring him into the barracks. 11That night the Lord stood beside him and said, “Take courage. As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome as well.”
The plot of the forty
12When day came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. 13There were more than forty who joined in this plot. 14They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15So now you, with the Sanhedrin, must petition the commander to bring him down to you, as though you meant to look into his case more thoroughly. We are ready to do away with him before he ever gets here.” 16But the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush; he made his way into the barracks and told Paul. 17Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to report to him.” 18So the centurion took him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you; he has something to tell you.” 19The commander took him by the hand, drew him aside and asked privately, “What is it you have to tell me?” 20He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they intended to look into his case more closely. 21Do not let them persuade you. More than forty of them are lying in wait for him; they have bound themselves under an oath neither to eat nor drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting only for your consent.” 22The commander sent the young man away with the order, “Tell no one that you have reported this to me.”
Sent by night to Felix
23Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready to march to Caesarea at the third hour of the night, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen. 24Provide mounts as well, to set Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25And he wrote a letter along these lines: 26“Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency the governor Felix: greetings. 27This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I arrived with my troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28Wanting to know the charge on which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin. 29I found that the accusation had to do with disputed points of their own law, and that there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment. 30When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, and instructed his accusers to state their case against him before you.” 31So the soldiers carried out their orders: they took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32The next day they let the horsemen go on with him and returned to the barracks. 33The horsemen entered Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34He read it and asked what province Paul was from; and learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, 35“I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” And he ordered him held under guard in Herod’s praetorium.
