¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot; so he went to the fort and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the officers and said to him, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸The 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.”

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

²⁰He 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. ²¹But 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.”

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

Paul Is Sent to Governor Felix

²³Then 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. ²⁴Provide some horses for Paul to ride and get him safely through to the governor Felix.” ²⁵Then the commander wrote a letter that went like this:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias to His Excellency, the governor Felix: Greetings. ²⁷The Jews seized this man and were about to kill him. I learnt that he was a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and rescued him. ²⁸I wanted to know what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council. ²⁹I found out that he had not done anything for which he deserved to die or be put in prison; the accusation against him had to do with questions about their own law. ³⁰And 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.”

³¹The soldiers carried out their orders. They got Paul and took him that night as far as Antipatris. ³²The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fort and left the horsemen to go on with him. ³³They took him to Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴The governor read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from. When he found out that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he 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.

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