4
The men standing near Paul said to him, "You cannot insult God's high priest like that!
5
Paul said, "Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. It is written in the Scriptures, 'You must not curse a leader of your people.'"
6
Some of the men in the meeting were Sadducees, and others were Pharisees. Knowing this, Paul shouted to them, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, and my father was a Pharisee. I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from the dead."
7
When Paul said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the group was divided.
8
(The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that people will rise from the dead. But the Pharisees believe in them all.)
9
So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe an angel or a spirit did speak to him."
10
The argument was beginning to turn into such a fight that the commander was afraid the Jews would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.
11
The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, "Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome."
12
In the morning some of the Jews made a plan to kill Paul, and they took an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed him.
13
There were more than forty Jews who made this plan.
14
They went to the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders and said, "We have taken an oath not to eat or drink until we have killed Paul