1
Sha'ul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, "Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day."
2
The Kohen Gadol, Hananyah, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
3
Then Sha'ul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?"
4
Those who stood by said, "Do you malign God's Kohen Gadol?
5
Sha'ul said, "I didn't know, brothers, that he was Kohen Gadol. For it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'"
6
But when Sha'ul perceived that the one part were Tzedukim and the other Perushim, he cried out in the council, "Men and brothers, I am a Parush, a son of Perushim. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"
7
When he had said this, an argument arose between the Perushim and Tzedukim, and the assembly was divided.