Acts 23
1 Paul looked straight at the Council and said, “Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day.”ISV — Acts 23:1
2 Then the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near him to strike him on the mouth.ISV — Acts 23:2
3 At this Paul told him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”ISV — Acts 23:3
4 The men standing near him asked, “Do you mean to insult God’s high priest?”ISV — Acts 23:4
5 Paul answered, “I didn’t realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’” ISV — Acts 23:5
6 When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I’m on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected.”ISV — Acts 23:6
7 After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided,ISV — Acts 23:7
8 because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.ISV — Acts 23:8
9 There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”ISV — Acts 23:9
10 The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.ISV — Acts 23:10
11 That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too.”ISV — Acts 23:11
12 In the morning, the Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul.ISV — Acts 23:12
13 More than 40 men formed this conspiracy.ISV — Acts 23:13
14 They went to the high priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul.ISV — Acts 23:14
15 Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we’ll be ready to kill him.”ISV — Acts 23:15
16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul.ISV — Acts 23:16
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him.”ISV — Acts 23:17
18 So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”ISV — Acts 23:18
19 The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, “What have you got to tell me?”ISV — Acts 23:19
20 He answered, “The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully.ISV — Acts 23:20
21 Don’t believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They’ve taken an oath not to eat or drink before they’ve killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”ISV — Acts 23:21
22 The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him.ISV — Acts 23:22
23 Then he summoned two centurions and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight, along with 70 mounted soldiers and 200 soldiers with spears.ISV — Acts 23:23
24 Provide a mount for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix.”ISV — Acts 23:24
25 He wrote a letter with this message:ISV — Acts 23:25
26 “From: Claudius Lysias To: Governor Felix Greetings, Your Excellency:ISV — Acts 23:26
27 This man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I went with the guard and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.ISV — Acts 23:27
28 I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, so I had him brought before their Council. ISV — Acts 23:28
29 I found that, although he was charged with questions about their Law, there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment.ISV — Acts 23:29
30 Since a plot against the man has been reported to me, I’m sending him to you at once, and I’ve also ordered his accusers to present their charges against him before you.”ISV — Acts 23:30
31 So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.ISV — Acts 23:31
32 The next day, they let the horsemen ride with Paul while they returned to their barracks.ISV — Acts 23:32
33 When these men came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.ISV — Acts 23:33
34 After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,ISV — Acts 23:34
35 he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered Paul to be kept in custody in Herod’s palace. ISV — Acts 23:35