Acts 23–25

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.”

Paul Is Brought to Caesarea

²³And when he called to him two of the centurions, he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, ¹seventy horsemen, and two hundred ²spearmen to proceed to ^aCaesarea by the ³third hour of the night,

²⁴and provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^aFelix the governor.”

²⁵And he wrote a letter having this form:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to the ^amost excellent governor Felix, ^bgreetings.

²⁷“When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, ^aI came up to them with the troops and rescued him, ^bhaving learned that he was a Roman.

²⁸“And ^awanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I ^bbrought him down to their ^cSanhedrin;

²⁹and I found him to be accused over ^aquestions about their Law, but ¹under ^bno accusation deserving death or ²imprisonment.

³⁰“And when I was ^ainformed that there would be ^ba plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing ^chis accusers to speak against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³²But the next day, leaving ^athe horsemen to go on with him, they returned to ^bthe barracks.

³³When these had come to ^aCaesarea and delivered the letter to ^bthe governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴And when he had read it, he asked from what ^aprovince he was, and when he learned that ^bhe was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing after your ^aaccusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be ^bkept in Herod’s ¹Praetorium.

CHAPTER 24

Paul’s Trial Before Felix the Governor

¹Now after ^afive days the high priest ^bAnanias came down with some elders, ¹with an ²attorney named Tertullus, and they ³brought charges to ^cthe governor against Paul.

²And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying,

“As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation—

³we welcome this in every way and everywhere, ^amost excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴“But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly.

⁵“For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout ¹the world, and a ringleader of the ^asect of the Nazarenes.

⁶“And he even tried to ^adesecrate the temple; and ¹then we arrested him. ²We wanted to judge him according to our own Law.

⁷“But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands,

⁸ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.”

^9aAnd the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when ^athe governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

¹¹since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than ^atwelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²“^aAnd neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or ^bcausing ¹a riot.

¹³“^aNor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me.

¹⁴“But this I confess to you, that according to ^athe Way, which they call a ^bsect, I do serve ^1cthe God of our fathers, ^dbelieving everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having a hope in God, for which ^athese men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

¹⁶“In view of this, ^aI also ¹do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men.

¹⁷“Now ^aafter several years I ^bcame to bring ¹alms to my nation and offerings;

¹⁸in which they found me, having been ^apurified in the temple, without any ^bcrowd or uproar. But there were some ^cJews from ¹Asia—

¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to ^amake accusation, if they should have anything against me.

²⁰“Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before ^athe Sanhedrin,

²¹other than for this one statement which ^aI shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”

²²But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about ^athe Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the ¹commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be ^akept in custody and yet ^bhave some rest, and not to prevent any of ^chis friends from ministering to him.

²⁴But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his ¹wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about ^afaith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing ^arighteousness, ^bself-control, and ^cthe judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.”

²⁶At the same time, he was also hoping that ^amoney would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix ¹was succeeded by Porcius ^aFestus, and ^bwishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul ^cimprisoned.

CHAPTER 25

Paul Before Festus

¹Festus then, having arrived in ^athe province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from ^bCaesarea.

²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^abrought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with him,

³requesting a favor against ¹Paul, that he might ²have him brought to Jerusalem (while they ^aset an ambush to kill him on the way).

⁴Festus then ^aanswered that Paul ^bwas being kept in custody at ^cCaesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he ^*said, “let the influential men among you go down there with me, and if there is anything wrong ¹about the man, let them accuse him.”

⁶And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^aCaesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^bthe judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought.

⁷And after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^amany and serious charges against him ^bwhich they could not prove,

⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “^aI have committed no sin either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

⁹But Festus, ^awishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “^bAre you willing to go up to Jerusalem and to be tried before me on these matters?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^a…