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ACTS 24
page 1005
7 This divided the council—the Pharisees
against the Sadducees—8 for the Sadducees say
there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but
the Pharisees believe in all of these. 9 So there
was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of
religious law who were Pharisees jumped up
and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps
a spirit or an angel spoke to him.” 10 As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was
afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered
his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and
take him back to the fortress.
11 That night the Lord appeared to Paul and
said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have
been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you
must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”
The Plan to Kill Paul
12 The next morning a group of Jews* got together and bound themselves with an oath not
to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There
were more than forty of them in the conspiracy.
14 They went to the leading priests and elders
and told them, “We have bound ourselves with
an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul.
15 So you and the high council should ask the
commander to bring Paul back to the council
again. Pretend you want to examine his case
more fully. We will kill him on the way.”
16 But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard
of their plan and went to the fortress and told
Paul. 17 Paul called for one of the Roman officers* and said, “Take this young man to the
commander. He has something important to
tell him.”
18 So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the
prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring
this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took his hand, led him
aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20 Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are
going to ask you to bring Paul before the high
council tomorrow, pretending they want to get
some more information. 21 But don’t do it! There
are more than forty men hiding along the way
ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat
or drink anything until they have killed him. They
are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
22 “Don’t let anyone know you told me this,”
the commander warned the young man.
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two of his officers
and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave
23:12 Greek the Jews. 23:17 Greek centurions; also in 23:23.
23:35 Greek Herod’s Praetorium. 24:1 Greek some elders
and an orator. 24:6 Some manuscripts add an expanded
conclusion to verse 6, all of verse 7, and an additional phrase
in verse 8: We would have judged him by our law, 7but Lysias,
the commander of the garrison, came and violently took him
away from us, 8commanding his accusers to come before you.
for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take
200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. 24 Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely
to Governor Felix.” 25 Then he wrote this letter
to the governor:
26 “From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency,
Governor Felix: Greetings!
27 “This man was seized by some Jews,
and they were about to kill him when I
arrived with the troops. When I learned
that he was a Roman citizen, I removed
him to safety. 28 Then I took him to their
high council to try to learn the basis of the
accusations against him. 29 I soon discovered
the charge was something regarding their
religious law—certainly nothing worthy of
imprisonment or death. 30 But when I was
informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately
sent him on to you. I have told his accusers
to bring their charges before you.”
31 So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took
Paul as far as Antipatris. 32 They returned to the
fortress the next morning, while the mounted
troops took him on to Caesarea. 33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the
letter to Governor Felix. 34 He read it and then
asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.
35 “I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the
governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters.*
Paul Appears before Felix
Five days later Ananias, the high priest,
arrived with some of the Jewish elders
and the lawyer* Tertullus, to present their
case against Paul to the governor. 2 When Paul
was called in, Tertullus presented the charges
against Paul in the following address to the
governor:
“You have provided a long period of peace
for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. 3 For all of this, Your Excellency,
we are very grateful to you. 4 But I don’t want
to bore you, so please give me your attention
for only a moment. 5 We have found this man to
be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up
riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a
ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes.
6 Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the
Temple when we arrested him.* 8 You can find
out the truth of our accusations by examining
him yourself.” 9 Then the other Jews chimed
in, declaring that everything Tertullus said
was true.
10 The governor then motioned for Paul to
speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you have
been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years,
so I gladly present my defense before you. 11 You
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