Acts 23 (New American Standard)

Paul before the Council

1 Paul, looking intently at ¹the ^aCouncil, said, "²Brethren , ³I have ^blived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day." 2 The high priest ⁴Ananias commanded those standing beside him ⁵to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, ⁶you whitewashed wall ! Do you ⁷sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck ?" 4 But the bystanders said, "Do you revile God's high priest ?" 5 And Paul said, "I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest ; for it is written, '⁸YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.' " 6 But perceiving that one group were ⁹Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in ¹⁰the ^cCouncil, "¹¹Brethren , ¹²I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees ; I am on trial for ¹³the hope and resurrection of the dead !" 7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For ¹⁴the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great uproar ; and some of ¹⁵the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, "¹⁶We find nothing wrong with this man ; ¹⁷suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10 And as a great dissension was developing, the ^dcommander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ¹⁸the barracks. 11 But on ¹⁹the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, "²⁰Take courage ; for ²¹as you have ²²solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also."

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

12 When it was day, ²³the Jews formed a ^econspiracy and ²⁴bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who formed this plot. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, "We have ²⁵bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 "Now therefore, you ^fand ²⁶the ^gCouncil notify the ^hcommander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case by a more thorough investigation ; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near the place." 16 But the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, ⁱand he came and entered ²⁷the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, "Lead this young man to the ^jcommander, for he has something to report to him." 18 So he took him and led him to the ^kcommander and said, "Paul ²⁸the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you." 19 The ^lcommander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately , "What is it that you have to report to me?" 20 And he said, "²⁹The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ³⁰the ^mCouncil, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 "So do not ⁿlisten to them, for more than forty of them are ³¹lying in wait for him who have ³²bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you." 22 So the ^ocommander let the young man go, instructing him, "Tell no one that you have notified me of these things."

Paul Moved to Caesarea

23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, "Get two hundred soldiers ready by ^pthe third hour of the night to proceed to ³³Caesarea, ^qwith seventy horsemen and two hundred ^rspearmen." 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ³⁴Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter having this form : 26 "Claudius Lysias, to the ³⁵most excellent governor Felix, ³⁶greetings. 27 "When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, ³⁷I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, ³⁸having learned that he was a Roman. 28 "And ³⁹wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I ⁴⁰brought him down to their ^s41Council ; 29 and I found him to be accused over ⁴²questions about their Law, but ^tunder ⁴³no accusation deserving death or ^uimprisonment. 30 "When I was ⁴⁴informed that there would be ⁴⁵a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing ⁴⁶his accusers to ^vbring charges against him before you." 31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving ⁴⁷the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to ⁴⁸the barracks. 33 When these had come to ⁴⁹Caesarea and delivered the letter to ⁵⁰the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read it, he asked from what ⁵¹province he was, and when he learned that ⁵²he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, "I will give you a hearing after your ⁵³accusers arrive also," giving orders for him to be ⁵⁴kept in Herod's ^wPraetorium.