The Jerusalem Jews Plot to Kill Paul

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

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

⁵ Then 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.’ ”

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

⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. ^8 (H)For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹ Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, ^(I)“We find no evil in this man; ^[a]but ^(J)if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, ^(K)let us not fight against God.”

¹⁰ Now 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

¹¹ But ^(L)the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ^[b]“Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in ^(M)Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at ^(N)Rome.”

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

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

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

²⁰ And 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. ²¹ But 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.”

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

Sent to Felix

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

³¹ Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. ³³ When they came to ^(Z)Caesarea and had delivered the ^(AA)letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴ And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from ^(AB)Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, ^(AC)“I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in ^(AD)Herod’s ^[e]Praetorium.

Accused of Sedition

24 Now after ^(AE)five days ^(AF)Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.

² And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and ^[f]prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, ³ we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴ Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your ^[g]courtesy, a few words from us. ^5 (AG)For 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. ^6 (AH)He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, ^[h]and wanted ^(AI)to judge him according to our law. ^7 (AJ)But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, ^8 (AK)commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.” ⁹ And the Jews also ^[i]assented, maintaining that these things were so.

The Defense Before Felix

¹⁰ Then 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, ¹¹ because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem ^(AL)to worship. ^12 (AM)And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. ¹³ Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. ¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to ^(AN)the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the ^(AO)God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in ^(AP)the Law and in the Prophets. ^15 (AQ)I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, ^(AR)that there will be a resurrection ^[j]of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. ^16 (AS)This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

¹⁷ “Now after many years ^(AT)I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, ^18 (AU)in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me ^(AV)purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult. ^19 (AW)They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. ²⁰ Or else let those who are here themselves say ^[k]if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, ²¹ unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ^(AX)‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’ ”

Felix Procrastinates

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

²⁴ And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the ^(BB)faith in Christ. ²⁵ Now 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.” ²⁶ Meanwhile he also hoped that ^(BC)money would be given him by Paul, ^[l]that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

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

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25 Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from ^(BE)Caesarea to Jerusalem. ^2 (BF)Then the ^[m]high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, ³ asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—^(BG)while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. ⁴ But 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 ^(BH)if there is any fault in him.”

⁶ And 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. ⁷ When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about ^(BI)and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, ⁸ while he answered for himself, ^(BJ)“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.”

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

¹⁰ So 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. ^11 (BM)For 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. ^(BN)I appeal to Caesar.”

¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!”

Paul Before Agrippa

¹³ And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. ¹⁴ When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying: ^(BO)“There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix, ^15 (BP)about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. ^16 (BQ)To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man ^[n]to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’ ¹⁷ Therefore when they had come together, ^(BR)without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I ^[o]supposed, ^19 (BS)but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. ²⁰ And because I was uncertain of such questions, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters. ²¹ But when Paul ^(BT)appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.”

²² Then ^(BU)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.”

“Tomorrow,” he said, “you shall hear him.”

²³ So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great ^[p]pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus’ command ^(BV)Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus said: “King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom ^(BW)the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was ^(BX)not fit to live any longer. ²⁵ But when I found that ^(BY)he had committed nothing deserving of death, ^(BZ)and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. ²⁶ I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.”