Acts 23–25

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

The Plot against Paul

¹¹The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” ^e

¹²When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse: neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. ^f13There were more than 40 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 ^gas if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. However, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.” ^h

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him, brought 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 tell you.”

¹⁹Then the commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

²⁰“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him. ²¹Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than 40 of them arranging to ambush him, men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they kill him. Now they are ready, waiting for a commitment from you.” ⁱ

²²So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have informed me about this.”

To Caesarea by Night

²³He summoned two of his centurions and said, “Get 200 soldiers ready with 70 cavalry and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. ^jk24Also provide mounts so they can put Paul on them and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵He wrote a letter of this kind:

²⁶Claudius Lysias,

To the most excellent governor Felix:

Greetings. ^l

²⁷When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen. ^m28Wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin. ²⁹I found out that the accusations were about disputed matters in their law, ⁿand that there was no charge that merited death or chains. ^o30When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, ^pqI sent him to you right away. I also ordered his accusers ^rto state their case against him in your presence. ^s

³¹Therefore, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered. ³²The next day, they returned to the barracks, allowing the cavalry to go on with him. ³³When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ^t34After he ^uread it, he asked what province he was from. So when he learned he was from Cilicia, ^v35he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers get here too.” And he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace. ^w

The Accusation against Paul

24After five days Ananias ^xthe high priest came down with some elders and a lawyer ^ynamed Tertullus. These men presented their case against Paul to the governor. ^z2When he was called in, Tertullus began to accuse him and said: “Since we enjoy great peace because of you, and reforms are taking place for the benefit of this nation by your foresight, ³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent ^aFelix, with utmost gratitude. ⁴However, so that I will not burden you any further, I beg you in your graciousness to give us a brief hearing. ⁵For we have found this man to be a plague, ^ban agitator ^camong all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes! ^d6He even tried to desecrate the temple, so we apprehended him [and wanted to judge him according to our law. ⁷But Lysias the commander came and took him from our hands with great force, ⁸commanding his accusers to come to you.] ^eBy examining him yourself you will be able to discern all these things we are accusing him of.” ⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.

Paul’s Defense before Felix

¹⁰When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me. ^f11You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. ^g12They didn’t find me disputing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple complex or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city. ^h13Neither can they provide evidence to you of what they now bring against me. ¹⁴But I confess this to you: I worship my fathers’ God according to the Way, ⁱwhich they call a sect, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets. ^j15And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, ^klboth of the righteous and the unrighteous. ^m16I always do my best to have a clear conscience ⁿtoward God and men. ¹⁷After many years, I came to bring charitable gifts and offerings to my nation, ^o18and while I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar. ^p19It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me. ²⁰Either let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, ²¹or about this one statement I cried out while standing among them, ‘Today I am being judged before you concerning the resurrection of the dead.’ ”

The Verdict Postponed

²²Since Felix was accurately informed about the Way, ^qhe adjourned the hearing, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³He ordered that the centurion keep Paul ^runder guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from serving ^shim. ^t

²⁴After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, ^uFelix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I find time I’ll call for you.” ²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul. ^vFor this reason he sent for him quite often and conversed with him.

²⁷After two years had passed, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, ^wand because he wished to do a favor for the Jews, ^xFelix left Paul in prison. ^y

Appeal to Caesar

25Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ^z2Then the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews presented their case against Paul to him; and they appealed, ^a3asking him to do them a favor against Paul, ^bthat he might summon him to Jerusalem. They were preparing an ambush along the road to kill him. ⁴However, Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to go there shortly. ^c5“Therefore,” he said, “let the men of authority among you go down with me and accuse him, if there is any wrong in this man.”

⁶When he had spent not more than eight or 10 days among them, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, seated at the judge’s bench, he commanded Paul to be brought in. ^d7When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove, ^e8while Paul made the defense that, “Neither against the Jewish law, ^fnor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I sinned at all.”

⁹Then Festus, wanting to do a favor for the Jews, ^greplied to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, there to be tried before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said: “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you can see very well. ¹¹If then I am doing wrong, or have done anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die, but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up…