Acts 22:22–23:10

Paul’s Roman Protection

²²They listened to him up to this word. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this person off the earth—it’s a disgrace for him to live!” ^l

²³As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air, ^m24the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined with the scourge, so he could discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?” ⁿ

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander came and said to him, “Tell me—are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” he said.

²⁸The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹Therefore, those who were about to examine him withdrew from him at once. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him. ^o

Paul before the Sanhedrin

³⁰The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him ^pand instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. ^qThen he brought Paul down and placed him before them. 23¹Paul looked intently at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience ^runtil this day.” ²But the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth. ^s3Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?” ^t

⁴And those 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.” ^uv6When 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! ^wI am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!” ^x7When 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, ^yand no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ ^zparty got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man. ^aWhat if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ^bc10When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, rescue him from them, and bring him into the barracks. ^d