Acts 23:10–22

¹⁰The argument was beginning to turn into such a fight that the commander was afraid some evil people would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.

¹¹The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.”

¹²In the morning some evil people made a plan to kill Paul, and they took an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed him. ¹³There were more than forty men who made this plan. ¹⁴They went to the leading priests and the elders and said, “We have taken an oath not to eat or drink until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander to bring Paul out to you as though you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”

¹⁶But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan and went to the army building and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.”

¹⁸So the officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander and said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”

¹⁹The commander took the young man’s hand and led him to a place where they could be alone. He asked, “What do you want to tell me?”

²⁰The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think they are going to ask him more questions. ²¹But don’t believe them! More than forty men are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to agree.”

²²The commander sent the young man away, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”