CHAPTER 23
Paul
looked directly
at the
Sanhedrin
and said,
“Brothers,
I
have conducted myself
before God
in all
good
conscience
to
this
day.”
Then
Paul
said
to
him,
“God
will
strike you,
you
whitewashed
wall!
You
sit here
to judge
me
according to
the
Law,
yet
you yourself violate the law
by commanding
that I
be struck."
“Brothers,”
Paul
replied,
“I was not aware
that
he was
the high priest,
for
it is written:
‘Do not speak
evil
about the ruler
of
your
people.’”
Then
Paul,
knowing
that
some of them
were
Sadducees
and
others
Pharisees,
called out
in
the
Sanhedrin,
“Brothers,
I
am
a Pharisee,
the son
of a Pharisee.
It is because of
my hope
in the resurrection
of the dead
that I
am on trial."
As soon as
he
had said this,
a dispute
broke out
between the
Pharisees
and
Sadducees,
and
the
assembly
was divided.
For
the Sadducees
say
there is
neither
a resurrection,
nor
angels,
nor
spirits,
but
the Pharisees
acknowledge
them all.
A great
clamor
arose,
and
some
scribes
from the
party
of the
Pharisees
got up
and contended sharply,
“We find
nothing
wrong
with
this
man.
What if
a spirit
or
an angel
has spoken
to him?"
The dispute
grew
so violent
that the
commander
was afraid
they
would tear Paul to pieces.
He ordered
the
soldiers
to go down
and remove him by force
and
bring him
into
the
barracks.
The
following
night
the
Lord
stood by
Paul
and said,
“Take courage!
As
you have testified
about
Me
in
Jerusalem,
so
also
you
must
testify
in
Rome."
When daylight came,
the
Jews
formed
a conspiracy
and bound themselves with an oath
not
to eat
or
drink
until
they had killed
Paul.
They
went
to the
chief priests
and
elders
and said,
“We have bound
ourselves
with a solemn oath
not to eat
anything
until
we have killed
Paul.
Now
then,
you
and
the
Sanhedrin
petition
the
commander
to
bring him down
to
you
on the pretext
of examining
his case
more carefully.
We
are
ready
to kill
him
on the way."
But when
the
son
of Paul’s
sister
heard about
the
ambush,
he went
into
the
barracks
and told
Paul.
Then
Paul
called
one
of the
centurions
and said,
“Take
this
young man
to
the
commander;
he has
something
to tell
him.”
So
the centurion
took him
to
the
commander
and
said,
“Paul
the
prisoner
sent
and asked
me
to bring
this
young man
to
you.
He has
something
to tell
you."
The
commander
took
the young man
by the
hand,
drew him
aside,
and asked,
“What
do you need
to tell
me?”
He answered,
“The
Jews
have agreed
to ask
you
to
bring
Paul
to
the
Sanhedrin
tomorrow,
on the pretext
of acquiring
more information
about
him.
Do not let
them
persuade
you,
because
more than
forty
men
are waiting to ambush
him.
They
have bound themselves with an oath
not
to eat
or
drink
until
they have killed
him;
they are
ready
now,
awaiting
your
consent."
So
the
commander
dismissed
the
young man
and instructed him,
“Do not tell
anyone
that
you have reported
this
to
me.”
Then
he called
two
of his
centurions
and said,
“Prepare
two hundred
soldiers,
seventy
horsemen,
and
two hundred
spearmen
to
go
to
Caesarea
in
the third
hour
of the
night.
This
man
was seized
by
the
Jews,
and
they
were about
to kill him
when I came
with
my
troops
to rescue him.
For I had learned
that
he is
a Roman citizen,
and
since I wanted
to understand
their
charges
against
him,
I brought him down
to
their
Sanhedrin.
I found that
the accusation
involved
questions
about
their own
Law,
but
there was
no
charge
worthy
of death
or
imprisonment.
When
I
was informed that
there was
a plot
against
the
man,
I sent him
to
you
at once.
I also instructed
his
accusers
to present
their case
against
him
before
you."
When the horsemen
arrived
in
Caesarea,
they delivered
the
letter
to the
governor
and
presented
Paul
to him.
The governor read the letter
and
asked
what
province
Paul was
from.
Learning
that
he was from
Cilicia,
he said,
“I will hear your case
when
your
accusers
arrive.”
Then he ordered that
Paul
be kept under guard
in
Herod’s
Praetorium.