¹²The next morning the Jews gathered secretly to make plans against Paul. They took an oath that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him. ¹³More than 40 men took part in this plan. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said, “We have taken a strong oath. We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must make an appeal to the commanding officer. Ask him to bring Paul to you. Pretend you want more facts about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

¹⁶But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. So he went into the fort and told Paul.

¹⁷Then Paul called one of the commanders. He said to him, “Take this young man to the commanding officer. He has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So the commander took Paul’s nephew to the officer.

The commander said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. The young man has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commanding officer took the young man by the hand. He spoke to him in private. “What do you want to tell me?” the officer asked.

²⁰He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow. They will pretend they want more facts about him. ²¹Don’t give in to them. More than 40 of them are waiting in hiding to attack him. They have taken an oath that they will not eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now. All they need is for you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin.”

²²The commanding officer let the young man go. But he gave him a warning. “Don’t tell anyone you have reported this to me,” he said.

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