1With his eyes steadily fixed on the Council, Paul said, “My brothers, all my life to this day I have lived with a perfectly clear conscience before God.”
2At this the high priest Ananias ordered his attendants to strike him on the mouth.
3Paul retorted, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me in accordance with the law; then, in defiance of the law, you order me to be struck!”
4The attendants said, “Would you insult God's high priest?”
5“Brothers,” said Paul, “I had no idea he was high priest; scripture, I know, says: ‘You shall not abuse the ruler of your people.’”
6Well aware that one section of them were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul called out in the Council, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, a Pharisee born and bred; and the issue in this trial is our hope of the resurrection of the dead.”
7At these words the Pharisees and Sadducees fell out among themselves, and the assembly was divided.
8(The Sadducees deny that there is any resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all three.)
9A great uproar ensued; and some of the scribes belonging to the Pharisaic party openly took sides and declared, “We find no fault with this man; perhaps an angel or spirit has spoken to him.”
10In the mounting dissension, the commandant was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces, so he ordered the troops to go down, pull him out of the crowd, and bring him into the barracks.
11The following night the Lord appeared to him and said, “Keep up your courage! You have affirmed the truth about me in Jerusalem, and you must do the same in Rome.”
12When day broke, the Jews banded together and took an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
13There were more than forty in the conspiracy;
14they went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath not to taste food until we have killed Paul.
15It is now up to you and the rest of the Council to apply to the commandant to have him brought down to you on the pretext of a closer investigation of his case; we have arranged to make away with him before he reaches you.”
16The son of Paul's sister, however, learnt of the plot and, going to the barracks, obtained entry, and reported it to Paul,
17who called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commandant; he has something to report.”
18The centurion brought him to the commandant and explained, “The prisoner Paul sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you; he has something to tell you.”
19The commandant took him by the arm, drew him aside, and asked him, “What is it you have to report?”
20He replied, “The Jews have agreed on a plan: they will request you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow on the pretext of obtaining more precise information about him.
21Do not listen to them; for a party more than forty strong are lying in wait for him, and they have sworn not to eat or drink until they have done away with him. They are now ready, waiting only for your consent.”
22The commandant dismissed the young man, with orders not to let anyone know that he had given him this information.
23He then summoned two of his centurions and gave them these orders: “Have two hundred infantry ready to proceed to Caesarea, together with seventy cavalrymen and two hundred light-armed troops; parade them three hours after sunset,
24and provide mounts for Paul so that he may be conducted under safe escort to Felix the governor.”
25And he wrote a letter to this effect:
26From Claudius Lysias to His Excellency the Governor Felix. Greeting.
27This man was seized by the Jews and was on the point of being murdered when I intervened with the troops, and, on discovering that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety.
28As I wished to ascertain the ground of their charge against him, I brought him down to their Council.
29I found that their case had to do with controversial matters of their law, but there was no charge against him which merited death or imprisonment.
30Information, however, has now been brought to my notice of an attempt to be made on the man's life, so I am sending him to you without delay, and have instructed his accusers to state their case against him before you.
31Acting on their orders, the infantry took custody of Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
32Next day they returned to their barracks, leaving the cavalry to escort him the rest of the way.
33When the cavalry reached Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor, and handed Paul over to him.
34He read the letter, and asked him what province he was from; and learning that he was from Cilicia
35he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” He ordered him to be held in custody at his headquarters in Herod's palace.
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