Acts 23:1–15

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin^v and said, “My brothers,^w I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience^x to this day.” ²At this the high priest Ananias^y ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.^{z 3}Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!^a You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”^b

⁴Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”

⁵Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’^a”^c

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees^d and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers,^e I am a Pharisee,^f descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”^{g 7}When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,^h and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)

⁹There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Phariseesⁱ stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,”^j they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”^{k 10}The dispute became so violent that the commander 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 the barracks.^l

¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage!^m As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”ⁿ

The Plot to Kill Paul

¹²The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy^o and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.^{p 13}More than forty men were involved in this plot. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.^{q 15}Now then, you and the Sanhedrin^r petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”