Acts - Chapter 23

1And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day. 2And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth. 3Then 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? 4And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest? 5And 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. 6But 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. 7And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting. 8For 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. 9And 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? 10And 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. 11And 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. 12And 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. 13And more than forty of them took this oath. 14And 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 death 15So 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. 16But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul. 17And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him. 18So 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. 19And 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? 20And 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. 21But 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. 22So 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. 23And 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: 24And get beasts so that they may put Paul on them, and take him safely to Felix, the ruler. 25And he sent a letter in these words: 26Claudius Lysias, to the most noble ruler, Felix, peace be with you. 27This 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. 28And, desiring to get at the reason for their attack on him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin: 29Then 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. 30And 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. 31So the armed men, as they were ordered, took Paul and came by night to Antipatris. 32But on the day after, they sent the horsemen on with him, and went back to their place: 33And they, when they came to Caesarea, gave the letter to the ruler, and took Paul before him. 34And after reading it, he said, What part of the country do you come from? And, hearing that he was from Cilicia, 35I 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.