Acts 23–25

23Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, ^aI have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” ²And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^bto strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and ^cdo you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

⁴And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”

⁵Then Paul said, ^d“I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ^e‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

⁶But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, ^fI am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; ^gconcerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”

⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. ^8hFor Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, ⁱ“We find no evil in this man; ¹but ^jif a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, ^klet us not fight against God.”

¹⁰Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.

The Plot Against Paul

¹¹But ^lthe following night the Lord stood by him and said, ²“Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in ^mJerusalem, so you must also bear witness at ⁿRome.”

¹²And when it was day, ^osome of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had ^pkilled Paul. ¹³Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴They came to the chief priests and ^qelders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you ³tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.”

¹⁹Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside, and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”

²⁰And he said, ^r“The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. ²¹But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”

²²So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”

Sent to Felix

²³And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to ^sCaesarea at the third hour of the night; ²⁴and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” ²⁵He wrote a letter in the following manner:

²⁶Claudius Lysias,

To the most excellent governor Felix:

Greetings.

^27tThis man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. ^28uAnd when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. ²⁹I found out that he was accused ^vconcerning questions of their law, ^wbut had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. ³⁰And ^xwhen it was told me that ⁴the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and ^yalso commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him.

Farewell.

³¹Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. ³³When they came to ^zCaesarea and had delivered the ^aletter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from ^bCilicia, ³⁵he said, ^c“I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in ^dHerod’s ⁵Praetorium.

Accused of Sedition

24Now after ^afive days ^bAnanias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.

²And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and ¹prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, ³we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your ²courtesy, a few words from us. ^5cFor we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. ^6dHe even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, ³and wanted ^eto judge him according to our law. ^7fBut the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, ^8gcommanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.” ⁹And the Jews also ⁴assented, maintaining that these things were so.

The Defense Before Felix

¹⁰Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: “Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, ¹¹because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem ^hto worship. ¹²ⁱAnd they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. ¹³Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. ¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to ^jthe Way which they call a sect, so I worship the ^kGod of my fathers, believing all things which are written in ^lthe Law and in the Prophets. ^15mI have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, ⁿthat there will be a resurrection ⁵of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. ^16oThis being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

¹⁷“Now after many years ^pI came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, ^18qin the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me ^rpurified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult. ^19sThey ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. ²⁰Or else let those who are here themselves say ⁶if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, ²¹unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ^t‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’ ”

Felix Procrastinates

²²But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the ^uWay, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When ^vLysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.” ²³So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and ^wtold him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

²⁴And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the ^xfaith in Christ. ²⁵Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” ²⁶Meanwhile he also hoped that ^ymoney would be given him by Paul, ⁷that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

²⁷But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, ^zwanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from ^aCaesarea to Jerusalem. ^2bThen the ¹high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, ³asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—^cwhile they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. ⁴But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly. ⁵“Therefore,” he said, “let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see ^dif there is any fault in him.”

⁶And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. ⁷When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about ^eand laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, ⁸while he answered for himself, ^f“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.”

⁹But Festus, ^gwanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, ^h“Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?”

¹⁰So Paul said, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. ¹¹ⁱFor if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. ^jI…