Acts 23–25

23RD CHAPTER

¹Paul stared at the Jewish council and said, “Brothers, my relationship with God has always given me a perfectly clear conscience.” 

²The chief priest Ananias ordered the men standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you hypocrite! You sit there and judge me by Moses’ Teachings and yet you break those teachings by ordering these men to strike me!” 

⁴The men standing near Paul said to him, “You’re insulting God’s chief priest!” 

⁵Paul answered, “Brothers, I didn’t know that he is the chief priest. After all, Scripture says, ‘Don’t speak evil about a ruler of your people.’ ” 

⁶When 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 because I expect that the dead will come back to life.” 

⁷After Paul said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees began to quarrel, and the men in the meeting were divided. ⁸(The Sadducees say that the dead won’t come back to life and that angels and spirits don’t exist. The Pharisees believe in all these things.) ⁹The shouting became very loud. Some of the experts in Moses’ Teachings were Pharisees who argued their position forcefully. They said, “We don’t find anything wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel actually spoke to him!” 

¹⁰The quarrel was becoming violent, and the officer was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So the officer ordered his soldiers to drag Paul back to the barracks. 

¹¹The Lord stood near Paul the next night and said to him, “Don’t lose your courage! You’ve told the truth about me in Jerusalem. Now you must tell the truth about me in Rome.” 

Some Jews Plot to Kill Paul

¹²In the morning the Jews formed a conspiracy. They asked God to curse them if they ate or drank anything before they had killed Paul. ¹³More than forty men took part in this plot. 

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and leaders ⸤of the people⸥ and said, “We’ve asked God to curse us if we taste any food before we’ve killed Paul. ¹⁵Here’s our plan: You and the council must go to the Roman officer on the pretext that you need more information from Paul. You have to make it look as though you want to get more accurate information about him. We’ll be ready to kill him before he gets to you.” 

¹⁶But Paul’s nephew heard about the ambush. He entered the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the sergeants and told him, “Take this young man to the officer. He has something to tell him.” 

¹⁸The sergeant took the young man to the officer and said, “The prisoner Paul called me. He asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 

¹⁹The officer took the young man by the arm, went where they could be alone, and asked him, “What do you have to tell me?” 

²⁰The young man answered, “The Jews have planned to ask you to bring Paul to the Jewish council tomorrow. They’re going to make it look as though they want more accurate information about him. ²¹Don’t let them persuade you to do this. More than forty of them are planning to ambush him. They have asked God to curse them if they eat or drink anything before they have murdered him. They are ready now and are expecting you to promise ⸤that you will bring Paul⸥.” 

²²The officer dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell this information to anyone else. 

²³Then the officer summoned two of his sergeants and told them, “I want 200 infantrymen, 70 soldiers on horseback, and 200 soldiers with spears. Have them ready to go to Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. ²⁴Provide an animal for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix.” ²⁵The officer wrote a letter to the governor with the following message: 

²⁶Claudius Lysias sends greetings to Your Excellency, Governor Felix: 

²⁷The Jews had seized this man and were going to murder him. When I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I went with my soldiers to rescue him. ²⁸I wanted to know what they had against him. So I took him to their Jewish council ²⁹and found their accusations had to do with disputes about their own laws. He wasn’t accused of anything for which he deserved to die or to be put into prison. ³⁰Since I was informed that there was a plot against this man, I immediately sent him to you. I have also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in front of you. 

³¹So the infantrymen did as they had been ordered. They took Paul to the city of Antipatris during the night. ³²They returned to their barracks the next day and let the soldiers on horseback travel with Paul. ³³When the soldiers arrived in the city of Caesarea with Paul, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 

³⁴After the governor had read the letter, he asked Paul which province he was from. When he found out that Paul was from the province of Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I’ll hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then the governor gave orders to keep Paul under guard in Herod’s palace. 

24TH CHAPTER

Paul Presents His Case to Felix

¹Five days later the chief priest Ananias went to the city of Caesarea with some leaders of the people and an attorney named Tertullus. They reported to the governor their charges against Paul. 

²When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him. He said to Felix, “Your Excellency, through your wise leadership we have lasting peace and reforms that benefit the people. ³We appreciate what you’ve done in every way and in every place, and we want to thank you very much. ⁴I don’t want to keep you too long. Please listen to us. We will be brief. ⁵We have found this man to be a troublemaker. He starts quarrels among all Jews throughout the world. He’s a ringleader of the Nazarene sect. ⁶He also entered the temple courtyard in a way that violates our tradition. So we arrested him.^a8When you cross-examine him, you’ll be able to find out from him that our accusations are true.” 

⁹The Jews supported Tertullus’ accusations and asserted that everything Tertullus said was true. 

¹⁰The governor motioned for Paul to speak. Paul responded, “I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years. So I’m pleased to present my case to you. ¹¹You can verify for yourself that I went to Jerusalem to worship no more than twelve days ago. ¹²No one found me having a discussion with anyone in the temple courtyard or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues throughout the city. ¹³These people cannot even prove their accusations to you. ¹⁴But I’ll admit to you that I’m a follower of the way ⸤of Christ⸥, which they call a sect. This means that I serve our ancestors’ God and believe everything written in Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets. ¹⁵I hope for the same thing my accusers do, that people with God’s approval and those without it will come back to life. ¹⁶With this belief I always do my best to have a clear conscience in the sight of God and people. ¹⁷After many years I have come back to my people and brought gifts for the poor and offerings ⸤for God⸥. ¹⁸My accusers found me in the temple courtyard doing these things after I had gone through the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present. ¹⁹But some Jews from the province of Asia were there. They should be here in front of you to accuse me if they have anything against me. ²⁰Otherwise, these men who are accusing me should tell what I was charged with when I stood in front of their council. ²¹They could accuse me of only one thing. As I stood among them, I shouted, ‘I’m being tried in front of you because ⸤I believe that⸥ the dead will come back to life.’ ” 

²²Felix knew the way ⸤of Christ⸥ rather well, so he adjourned the trial. He told them, “When the officer Lysias arrives, I’ll decide your case.” ²³Felix ordered the sergeant to guard Paul but to let him have some freedom and to let his friends take care of his needs. 

²⁴Some days later Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵As Paul discussed the subjects of God’s approval, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, “That’s enough for now. You can go. When I find time, I’ll send for you again.” ²⁶At the same time, Felix was hoping that Paul would give him some money. For that reason, Felix would send for Paul rather often to have friendly conversations with him. 

²⁷Two years passed. Then Porcius Festus took Felix’s place. (Since Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.) 

25TH CHAPTER

Paul Makes an Appeal

¹Three days after Festus took over his duties in the province of Judea, he went from the city of Caesarea to Jerusalem. ²The chief priests and the other important Jewish leaders informed Festus about their charges against Paul. They were urging ³Festus to do them the favor of having Paul brought to Jerusalem. The Jews had a plan to ambush and kill Paul as he traveled to Jerusalem. 

⁴Festus replied that he would be returning to Caesarea soon and would keep Paul there. ⁵He told them, “Have your authorities come to Caesarea with me and accuse him there if the man has done something wrong.” 

⁶Festus stayed in Jerusalem for eight or ten days at the most and then returned to Caesarea. The next day Festus took his place in court and summoned Paul. 

⁷When Paul entered the room, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem surrounded him. They made a lot of serious accusations that they couldn’t prove. ⁸Paul defended himself by saying, “I haven’t broken any Jewish law or done anything against the temple or the emperor.” 

⁹But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he asked Paul, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there on these charges with me as your judge?” 

¹⁰Paul said, “I am standing in the emperor’s court where I must be tried. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jews, as you know very well. ¹¹If I am guilty and have done something wrong for which I deserve the death…