Acts 23:1–15

23Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience^d to this day.” ²The high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.^{e 3}Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”^f

⁴Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”

⁵“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”^{Bg 6}When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.^h I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”^{i 7}When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection,^j and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’^k party got up and argued vehemently, “We find nothing evil in this man.^l What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”^Cm

¹⁰When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them, and bring him into the barracks.^{n 11}The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”^o

THE PLOT AGAINST PAUL

¹²When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.^{p 13}There were more than forty who had formed this plot. ¹⁴These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you^A as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”^q