Act 23 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now looking intently at the Council , Paul said , “ Brothers , I have lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day .”

Acts 23

Paul before the Council

1 Now looking intently at ^athe ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin}Council, Paul said, “ ^{▼▼Lit Men, brothers
,} ^dBrothers, ^eI have ^{▼▼Or conducted myself as a citizen}lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.” 2 But the high priest ^gAnanias commanded those standing beside him ^hto strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ⁱyou whitewashed wall! Do you ^jsit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?” 4 But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘ ^kYou shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

6 But Paul, perceiving that one group were ^lSadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in ^mthe ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin}Council, “ ^{▼▼Lit Men, brothers
,} ^pBrothers, ^qI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^rthe hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For ^sthe Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And a great uproar occurred; and some of ^tthe scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “ ^uWe find nothing wrong with this man; ^vsuppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 And when a great dissension occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^wthe barracks.

11 But on ^xthe following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “ ^yBe courageous! For ^zas you have ^aatestified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

12 When it was day, ^abthe Jews formed a ^{▼▼Or mob}conspiracy and ^adput themselves under an ^{▼▼I.e., an oath with a self-imposed curse}oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who formed this plot. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^afput ourselves under an ^{▼▼See note 2 v 12}oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore, you ^{▼▼Lit with}and ^aithe ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin}Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”

16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, ^{▼▼Or having been present with them, and he also entered}and he came and entered ^althe barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul ^amthe prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “ ^anThe Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^aothe ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin}Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not ^{▼▼Lit be persuaded by them}listen to them, for more than forty ^{▼▼Lit men of them}of them are ^asin hiding to ambush him, and these men have ^atput themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.” 22 Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by ^{▼▼I.e., 9 p.m.}the third hour of the night to proceed to ^avCaesarea, ^{▼▼Lit and}with seventy horsemen and two hundred ^{▼▼Or slingers; or bowmen}spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^ayFelix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter ^{▼▼Or to this effect}with the following content:

26 “Claudius Lysias, to the ^bamost excellent governor Felix: ^bbGreetings.
27 When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, ^bcI came up to them with the troops and rescued him, ^bdafter learning that he was a Roman. 28 And ^bewanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I ^bfbrought him down to their ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin
,} ^bhCouncil; 29 and I found that he was being accused regarding ^biquestions in their Law, but ^{▼▼Lit had no charge of}was ^bknot charged with anything deserving death or ^{▼▼Lit bonds}imprisonment.
30 When I was ^bminformed that there would be ^bna plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing ^bohis accusers to ^{▼▼Lit speak against him}bring charges against him before you.”
31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But on the next day they let ^bqthe horsemen go on with him, and they returned to ^brthe barracks. 33 When these horsemen had come to ^bsCaesarea and delivered the letter to ^btthe governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 Now when he had read it, he also asked from what ^buprovince Paul was, and when he learned that ^bvhe was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your ^bwaccusers arrive as well,” giving orders for ^{▼▼Lit him}Paul to be ^bykept in Herod’s ^{▼▼I.e., governor’s official residence}Praetorium.