Acts 23:12-35

New American Standard Bible

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

¹²When it was day, ^(A)the Jews formed a ^[a]conspiracy and ^(B)put themselves under an ^[b]oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty who formed this plot. ¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^(C)put ourselves under an ^[c]oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore, you ^[d]and ^(D)the ^[e]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.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, ^[f]and he came and entered ^(E)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul ^(F)the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” ¹⁹The 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?” ²⁰And he said, “^(G)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^(H)the ^[g]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. ²¹So do not ^[h]listen to them, for more than forty ^[i]of them are ^(I)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have ^(J)put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.” ²²Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

²³And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by ^[j]the third hour of the night to proceed to ^(K)Caesarea, ^[k]with seventy horsemen and two hundred ^[l]spearmen.” ²⁴They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^(L)Felix the governor. ²⁵And he wrote a letter ^[m]with the following content:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to the ^(M)most excellent governor Felix: ^(N)Greetings.

²⁷When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, ^(O)I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, ^(P)after learning that he was a Roman. ²⁸And ^(Q)wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I ^(R)brought him down to their ^[n]^(S)Council; ²⁹and I found that he was being accused regarding ^(T)questions in their Law, but ^[o]was ^(U)not charged with anything deserving death or ^[p]imprisonment.

³⁰When I was ^(V)informed that there would be ^(W)a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing ^(X)his accusers to ^[q]bring charges against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²But on the next day they let ^(Y)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to ^(Z)the barracks. ³³When these horsemen had come to ^(AA)Caesarea and delivered the letter to ^(AB)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴Now when he had read it, he also asked from what ^(AC)province Paul was, and when he learned that ^(AD)he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing when your ^(AE)accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for ^[r]Paul to be ^(AF)kept in Herod’s ^[s]Praetorium.