Parallel Bible results for "acts 23"

Acts 23

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day.

2 And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.

3 Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?

4 And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest

5 And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.

6 But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.

7 And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.

8 For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.

9 And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?

10 And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.

11 And the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in Rome.

12 And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.

13 And more than forty of them took this oath.

14 And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to deat

15 So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death.

16 But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.

17 And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him.

18 So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.

19 And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me

20 And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail.

21 But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order

22 So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.

23 And he sent for two captains and said, Make ready two hundred men, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea, at the third hour of the night:

24 And get beasts so that they may put Paul on them, and take him safely to Felix, the ruler.

25 And he sent a letter in these words:

26 Claudius Lysias, to the most noble ruler, Felix, peace be with you.

27 This man was taken by the Jews, and was about to be put to death by them, when I came on them with the army and took him out of danger, having knowledge that he was a Roman.

28 And, desiring to get at the reason for their attack on him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin:

29 Then it became clear to me that it was a question of their law, and that nothing was said against him which might be a reason for prison or death.

30 And when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against him to make their statements before you.

31 So the armed men, as they were ordered, took Paul and came by night to Antipatris.

32 But on the day after, they sent the horsemen on with him, and went back to their place:

33 And they, when they came to Caesarea, gave the letter to the ruler, and took Paul before him.

34 And after reading it, he said, What part of the country do you come from? And, hearing that he was from Cilicia,

35 I will give hearing to your cause, he said, when those who are against you have come. And he gave orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Paul looked straight at the Council and said, "My fellow Israelites! My conscience is perfectly clear about the way in which I have lived before God to this very day."

2 The High Priest Ananias ordered those who were standing close to Paul to strike him on the mouth.

3 Paul said to him, "God will certainly strike you - you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me!"

4 The men close to Paul said to him, "You are insulting God's High Priest!

5 Paul answered, "My fellow Israelites, I did not know that he was the High Priest. The scripture says, "You must not speak evil of the ruler of your people.' "

6 When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"

7 As soon as he said this, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to quarrel, and the group was divided

8 (For the Sadducees say that people will not rise from death and that there are no angels or spirits; but the Pharisees believe in all three.)

9 The shouting became louder, and some of the teachers of the Law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: "We cannot find a thing wrong with this man! Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him!"

10 The argument became so violent that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces. So he ordered his soldiers to go down into the group, get Paul away from them, and take him into the fort.

11 That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Don't be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome."

12 The next morning some Jews met together and made a plan. They took a vow that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.

13 There were more than forty who planned this together.

14 Then they went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn vow together not to eat a thing until we have killed Paul

15 Now then, you and the Council send word to the Roman commander to bring Paul down to you, pretending that you want to get more accurate information about him. But we will be ready to kill him before he ever gets here."

16 But the son of Paul's sister heard about the plot; so he went to the fort and told Paul.

17 Then Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him."

18 The officer took him, led him to the commander, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to say to you."

19 The commander took him by the hand, led him off by himself, and asked him, "What do you have to tell me?

20 He said, "The Jewish authorities have agreed to ask you tomorrow to take Paul down to the Council, pretending that the Council wants to get more accurate information about him.

21 But don't listen to them, because there are more than forty men who will be hiding and waiting for him. They have taken a vow not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are now ready to do it and are waiting for your decision.

22 The commander said, "Don't tell anyone that you have reported this to me." And he sent the young man away.

23 Then the commander called two of his officers and said, "Get two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea, together with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, and be ready to leave by nine o'clock tonight.

24 Provide some horses for Paul to ride and get him safely through to Governor Felix."

25 Then the commander wrote a letter that went like this:

26 "Claudius Lysias to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

27 The Jews seized this man and were about to kill him. I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and rescued him.

28 I wanted to know what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council.

29 I found out that he had not done a thing for which he deserved to die or be put in prison; the accusation against him had to do with questions about their own law.

30 And when I was informed that there was a plot against him, at once I decided to send him to you. I have told his accusers to make their charges against him before you."

31 The soldiers carried out their orders. They got Paul and took him that night as far as Antipatris.

32 The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fort and left the horsemen to go on with him.

33 They took him to Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and turned Paul over to him.

34 The governor read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from. When he found out that he was from Cilicia,

35 he said, "I will hear you when your accusers arrive." Then he gave orders for Paul to be kept under guard in the governor's headquarters.