Acts 23:16–35

¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks^s and told Paul.

¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him to the commander.

The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner,^t sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin^u tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him.^{v 21}Don’t give in to them, because more than forty^w of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him.^x They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²²The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

Paul Transferred to Caesarea

²³Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen^b to go to Caesarea^y at nine tonight.^{z 24}Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”^a

²⁵He wrote a letter as follows:

²⁶Claudius Lysias,

To His Excellency,^b Governor Felix:

Greetings.^c

²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him,^d but I came with my troops and rescued him,^e for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.^{f 28}I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin.^{g 29}I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law,^h but there was no charge against himⁱ that deserved death or imprisonment. ³⁰When I was informed^j of a plot^k to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers^l to present to you their case against him.

³¹So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. ³²The next day they let the cavalry^m go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.^{n 33}When the cavalry^o arrived in Caesarea,^p they delivered the letter to the governor^q and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,^{r 35}he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers^s get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard^t in Herod’s palace.