Acts 22:30–23:22

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰But on the next day, ^awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^breleased him and ordered the chief priests and all ^cthe Sanhedrin to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

CHAPTER 23

¹Now Paul, looking intently at ^athe Sanhedrin, said, “^bBrothers, ^cI have ¹lived my life in all good conscience before God up to this day.”

²And the high priest ^aAnanias commanded those standing beside him ^bto strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^ayou whitewashed wall! Do you ^bsit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

⁴But those standing nearby said, “Do you revile the high priest of God?”

⁵And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘^aYou shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶But knowing that one group were ^aSadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in ^bthe Sanhedrin, “^cBrothers, ^dI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^ethe hope and resurrection of the dead!”

⁷As he said this, there was dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For ^athe Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

⁹And there occurred a great outcry; and some of ^athe scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “^bWe find nothing wrong with this man. ^cSuppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰And as a great dissension was developing, because the ¹commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^athe barracks.

¹¹But on ^athat very night, the Lord stood at his side and said, “^bTake courage; for ^cas you have ^dsolemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹²Now when it was day, ^athe Jews formed a ¹conspiracy and ^bbound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³And there were more than forty who formed this scheme.

¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^abound ourselves under a curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵“So now you, along with ^athe Sanhedrin, notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more carefully; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near.”

¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, ¹he came and entered ^athe barracks and reported it to Paul.

¹⁷And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him and led him to the ¹commander and ^*said, “Paul ^athe prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹And the ¹commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

²⁰And he said, “^aThe Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^bthe Sanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more carefully about him.

²¹“So do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of them—who have ^abound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him—are ^blying in wait for him and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.”

²²So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”