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Blessings for Obedience

26 “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God. You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.

“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.

“I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. 10 You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! 11 I will live among you, and I will not despise you. 12 I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.

Punishments for Disobedience

14 “However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, 15 and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, 16 I will punish you. I will bring sudden terrors upon you—wasting diseases and burning fevers that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will plant your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them. 17 I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you!

18 “And if, in spite of all this, you still disobey me, I will punish you seven times over for your sins. 19 I will break your proud spirit by making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze. 20 All your work will be for nothing, for your land will yield no crops, and your trees will bear no fruit.

21 “If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey me, I will inflict disaster on you seven times over for your sins. 22 I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children and destroy your livestock. Your numbers will dwindle, and your roads will be deserted.

23 “And if you fail to learn the lesson and continue your hostility toward me, 24 then I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins. 25 I will send armies against you to carry out the curse of the covenant you have broken. When you run to your towns for safety, I will send a plague to destroy you there, and you will be handed over to your enemies. 26 I will destroy your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake bread for their families. They will ration your food by weight, and though you have food to eat, you will not be satisfied.

27 “If in spite of all this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, 28 then I will give full vent to my hostility. I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins. 29 Then you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters. 30 I will destroy your pagan shrines and knock down your places of worship. I will leave your lifeless corpses piled on top of your lifeless idols,[a] and I will despise you. 31 I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship. I will take no pleasure in your offerings that should be a pleasing aroma to me. 32 Yes, I myself will devastate your land, and your enemies who come to occupy it will be appalled at what they see. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34 Then at last the land will enjoy its neglected Sabbath years as it lies desolate while you are in exile in the land of your enemies. Then the land will finally rest and enjoy the Sabbaths it missed. 35 As long as the land lies in ruins, it will enjoy the rest you never allowed it to take every seventh year while you lived in it.

36 “And for those of you who survive, I will demoralize you in the land of your enemies. You will live in such fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing. You will run as though fleeing from a sword, and you will fall even when no one pursues you. 37 Though no one is chasing you, you will stumble over each other as though fleeing from a sword. You will have no power to stand up against your enemies. 38 You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. 39 Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors.

40 “But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. 41 When I have turned their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies, then at last their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for their sins. 42 Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land must be abandoned to enjoy its years of Sabbath rest as it lies deserted. At last the people will pay for their sins, for they have continually rejected my regulations and despised my decrees.

44 “But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. 45 For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

46 These are the decrees, regulations, and instructions that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai as evidence of the relationship between himself and the Israelites.

Redemption of Gifts Offered to the Lord

27 The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person, here is the scale of values to be used. A man between the ages of twenty and sixty is valued at fifty shekels[b] of silver, as measured by the sanctuary shekel. A woman of that age is valued at thirty shekels[c] of silver. A boy between the ages of five and twenty is valued at twenty shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at ten shekels[d] of silver. A boy between the ages of one month and five years is valued at five shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at three shekels[e] of silver. A man older than sixty is valued at fifteen shekels of silver; a woman of that age is valued at ten shekels[f] of silver. If you desire to make such a vow but cannot afford to pay the required amount, take the person to the priest. He will determine the amount for you to pay based on what you can afford.

“If your vow involves giving an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, any gift to the Lord will be considered holy. 10 You may not exchange or substitute it for another animal—neither a good animal for a bad one nor a bad animal for a good one. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy. 11 If your vow involves an unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—then you must bring the animal to the priest. 12 He will assess its value, and his assessment will be final, whether high or low. 13 If you want to buy back the animal, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent.

14 “If someone dedicates a house to the Lord, the priest will come to assess its value. The priest’s assessment will be final, whether high or low. 15 If the person who dedicated the house wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again be his.

16 “If someone dedicates to the Lord a piece of his family property, its value will be assessed according to the amount of seed required to plant it—fifty shekels of silver for a field planted with five bushels of barley seed.[g] 17 If the field is dedicated to the Lord in the Year of Jubilee, then the entire assessment will apply. 18 But if the field is dedicated after the Year of Jubilee, the priest will assess the land’s value in proportion to the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. Its assessed value is reduced each year. 19 If the person who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again be legally his. 20 But if he does not want to buy it back, and it is sold to someone else, the field can no longer be bought back. 21 When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apart[h] for the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.

22 “If someone dedicates to the Lord a field he has purchased but which is not part of his family property, 23 the priest will assess its value based on the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. On that day he must give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field must be returned to the person from whom he purchased it, the one who inherited it as family property. 25 (All the payments must be measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel,[i] which equals twenty gerahs.)

26 “You may not dedicate a firstborn animal to the Lord, for the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats already belong to him. 27 However, you may buy back the firstborn of a ceremonially unclean animal by paying the priest’s assessment of its worth, plus 20 percent. If you do not buy it back, the priest will sell it at its assessed value.

28 “However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. 29 No person specially set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death.

30 “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy. 31 If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent. 32 Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy. 33 You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.”

34 These are the commands that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

Footnotes

  1. 26:30 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
  2. 27:3 Or 20 ounces [570 grams].
  3. 27:4 Or 12 ounces [342 grams].
  4. 27:5 Or A boy . . . 8 ounces [228 grams] of silver; a girl . . . 4 ounces [114 grams].
  5. 27:6 Or A boy . . . 2 ounces [57 grams] of silver; a girl . . . 1.2 ounces [34 grams].
  6. 27:7 Or A man . . . 6 ounces [171 grams] of silver; a woman . . . 4 ounces [114 grams].
  7. 27:16 Hebrew 50 shekels [20 ounces or 570 grams] of silver for a homer [220 liters] of barley seed.
  8. 27:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 27:28, 29.
  9. 27:25 Each shekel was about 0.4 ounces [11 grams] in weight.

Blessings of Obedience

26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves (A)idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves (B)a carved image or (C)a memorial stone, nor shall you place a (D)figured stone in your land to bow down [a]to it; for I am the Lord your God. (E)You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord. (F)If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then (G)I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. (H)Indeed, your threshing season will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. So you will eat your [b]food to the full and (I)live securely in your land. (J)I shall also grant peace in the land, so that (K)you may lie down, with no one to make you afraid. (L)I shall also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and (M)no sword will pass through your land. Instead, you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; (N)five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. So I will turn toward you and (O)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will (P)confirm My covenant with you. 10 And (Q)you will eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. 11 (R)Moreover, I will make My [c]dwelling among you, and My soul will not [d]reject you. 12 (S)I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 (T)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and (U)I broke your yoke and made you walk erect.

Penalties of Disobedience

14 (V)But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you (W)reject My statutes, and if your soul loathes My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, but rather to (X)break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will [e]summon a (Y)sudden terror against you, consumption and fever that will make the eyes fail and the (Z)soul languish; also, (AA)you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it. 17 And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and (AB)those who hate you will rule over you, and (AC)you will flee when no one is pursuing you. 18 If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you (AD)seven times more for your sins. 19 I will also (AE)break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 (AF)Your strength will be consumed uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

21 ‘Yet if you [f](AG)show hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you (AH)seven times according to your sins. 22 (AI)I will also let loose among you the animals of the field, which will deprive you of your children and eliminate your cattle, and reduce your number so that (AJ)your roads become deserted.

23 (AK)And if by these things you do not learn your lesson regarding Me, but you show hostility toward Me, 24 then I in turn will (AL)show hostility toward you; and I, even I, will strike you (AM)seven times for your sins. 25 I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute (AN)vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send a (AO)plague among you, so that you will be handed over to the enemy. 26 (AP)When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread [g]in rationed amounts, so that you will (AQ)eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then (AR)I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I for My part will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 Further, (AS)you will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I then (AT)will destroy your high places, and cut down your (AU)incense altars, and [h]pile your [i]remains on the [j]remains of your idols, for My soul will loathe you. 31 I will turn your cities into (AV)ruins as well and make your (AW)sanctuaries desolate, and I will not (AX)smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make (AY)the land desolate (AZ)so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I (BA)will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins.

34 (BB)Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. 35 All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. 36 As for those among you who are left, I will also bring (BC)despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a scattered leaf will chase them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee [k]as though from the sword, and they will fall. 37 (BD)They will then stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand before your enemies. 38 Instead, (BE)you will perish among the nations, and your enemies’ land will consume you. 39 (BF)So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their wrongdoing in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the wrongdoing of their forefathers they will rot away with them.

40 ‘But (BG)if they confess their wrongdoing and the wrongdoing of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—(BH)or if their uncircumcised heart is humbled so that (BI)they then make amends for their wrongdoing, 42 then I will remember (BJ)My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also (BK)My covenant with Isaac, and (BL)My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 (BM)For the land will be abandoned by them, and will restore its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their wrongdoing, [l]because they rejected My ordinances and their (BN)soul loathed My statutes. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so (BO)loathe them as (BP)to destroy them, (BQ)breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will remember for them the (BR)covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that (BS)I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 (BT)These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the sons of Israel [m]through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Rules concerning Assessments

27 Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(BU)When someone makes an explicit vow, he shall be valued according to your assessment of persons belonging to the Lord. If your assessment is of a male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your assessment shall be fifty shekels of silver, by (BV)the shekel of the sanctuary. Or if [n]the person is a female, then your assessment shall be thirty shekels. And if the person is from five years even to twenty years old, then your assessment for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. But if the person is from a month even up to five years old, then your assessment shall be (BW)five shekels of silver for a male, and for a female your assessment shall be three shekels of silver. If the person is from sixty years old and upward, if a male, then your assessment shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. But if he is poorer than your assessment, then he shall be presented before the priest, and the priest shall assess him; (BX)according to [o]the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall assess him.

‘Now if it is an animal of the kind that [p]one can present as an offering to the Lord, any such animal that one gives to the Lord shall be holy. 10 (BY)He shall not replace it nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; yet if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. 11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which [q]one does not present as an offering to the Lord, then he shall place the animal before the priest. 12 And the priest shall assess it [r]as either good or bad; as you, the priest, assess it, so shall it be. 13 But if he should ever want to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of it to your assessment.

14 ‘Now if someone consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall assess it [s]as either good or bad; as the priest assesses it, so shall it stand. 15 Yet if the one who consecrates it should want to redeem his house, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may be his.

16 ‘Again, if someone consecrates to the Lord part of the field of his own property, then your assessment shall be [t]proportionate to the seed needed for it: a [u]homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your assessment it shall stand. 18 If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for [v]him [w]proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your assessment. 19 If the one who consecrates it should ever want to redeem the field, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may belong to him. 20 Yet if he does not redeem the field, [x]but has sold the field to another person, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and when it [y]reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the Lord, like a field banned from secular use; (BZ)it shall be for the priest as his property. 22 Or if he consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23 then the priest shall calculate for [z]him the amount of your assessment up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your assessment as holy to the Lord. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every assessment of yours, moreover, shall be by (CA)the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.

26 (CB)However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no one may consecrate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lords. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall [aa]redeem it according to your assessment and add to it a fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your assessment.

28 ‘Nevertheless, (CC)[ab]anything which someone sets apart to the Lord for [ac]destruction out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the field of his own property, shall not be sold nor redeemed. Anything set apart for destruction is most holy to the Lord. 29 No [ad]one who may have been [ae]set apart among mankind shall be ransomed; he must be put to death.

30 ‘Now (CD)all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lords; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If, therefore, someone should ever want to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it a fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (CE)passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 (CF)He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; yet if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

34 (CG)These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:1 Lit over
  2. Leviticus 26:5 Lit bread
  3. Leviticus 26:11 Or tabernacle
  4. Leviticus 26:11 Lit abhor
  5. Leviticus 26:16 Or impose...on you
  6. Leviticus 26:21 Lit walk with Me hostilely, and so throughout the ch
  7. Leviticus 26:26 Lit by weight
  8. Leviticus 26:30 Lit give
  9. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  10. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  11. Leviticus 26:36 Lit the flight of the sword
  12. Leviticus 26:43 Lit because and by the cause
  13. Leviticus 26:46 Lit by the hand of
  14. Leviticus 27:4 Lit she
  15. Leviticus 27:8 Lit what the hand reaches
  16. Leviticus 27:9 Lit they
  17. Leviticus 27:11 Lit they
  18. Leviticus 27:12 Lit between
  19. Leviticus 27:14 Lit between good
  20. Leviticus 27:16 Lit according to its seed
  21. Leviticus 27:16 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
  22. Leviticus 27:18 Or it
  23. Leviticus 27:18 Lit according to the years
  24. Leviticus 27:20 Or if he
  25. Leviticus 27:21 Lit goes out
  26. Leviticus 27:23 Or it
  27. Leviticus 27:27 Or ransom
  28. Leviticus 27:28 Lit anything banned
  29. Leviticus 27:28 I.e., as an offering
  30. Leviticus 27:29 Lit one devoted; or banned
  31. Leviticus 27:29 Lit put under the ban

23 Gazing intently at the high council,[a] Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”

Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite![b] What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

Those standing near Paul said to him, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”

“I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.’[c]

Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”

This divided the council—the Pharisees against the Sadducees— for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. 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[d] 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[e] 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 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.[f]

Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 23:6, 15, 20, 28.
  2. 23:3 Greek you whitewashed wall.
  3. 23:5 Exod 22:28.
  4. 23:12 Greek the Jews.
  5. 23:17 Greek centurions; also in 23:23.
  6. 23:35 Greek Herod’s Praetorium.

Paul before the Council

23 Now looking intently at (A)the [a]Council, Paul said, “[b](B)Brothers, (C)I have [c]lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.” But the high priest (D)Ananias commanded those standing beside him (E)to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, (F)you whitewashed wall! Do you (G)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?” But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?” And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘(H)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

But Paul, perceiving that one group were (I)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in (J)the [d]Council, “[e](K)Brothers, (L)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for (M)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For (N)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. And a great uproar occurred; and some of (O)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “(P)We find nothing wrong with this man; (Q)suppose 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 (R)the barracks.

11 But on (S)the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, (T)Be courageous! For (U)as you have (V)testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

12 When it was day, (W)the Jews formed a [f]conspiracy and (X)put themselves under an [g]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 (Y)put ourselves under an [h]oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore, you [i]and (Z)the [j]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, [k]and he came and entered (AA)the 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 (AB)the 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, “(AC)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to (AD)the [l]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not [m]listen to them, for more than forty [n]of them are (AE)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have (AF)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.” 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 [o]the third hour of the night to proceed to (AG)Caesarea, [p]with seventy horsemen and two hundred [q]spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to (AH)Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter [r]with the following content:

26 “Claudius Lysias, to the (AI)most excellent governor Felix: (AJ)Greetings.

27 When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, (AK)I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, (AL)after learning that he was a Roman. 28 And (AM)wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I (AN)brought him down to their [s](AO)Council; 29 and I found that he was being accused regarding (AP)questions in their Law, but [t]was (AQ)not charged with anything deserving death or [u]imprisonment.

30 When I was (AR)informed that there would be (AS)a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing (AT)his accusers to [v]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 (AU)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to (AV)the barracks. 33 When these horsemen had come to (AW)Caesarea and delivered the letter to (AX)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 Now when he had read it, he also asked from what (AY)province Paul was, and when he learned that (AZ)he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your (BA)accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for [w]Paul to be (BB)kept in Herod’s [x]Praetorium.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 23:1 Or Sanhedrin
  2. Acts 23:1 Lit Men, brothers
  3. Acts 23:1 Or conducted myself as a citizen
  4. Acts 23:6 Or Sanhedrin
  5. Acts 23:6 Lit Men, brothers
  6. Acts 23:12 Or mob
  7. Acts 23:12 I.e., an oath with a self-imposed curse
  8. Acts 23:14 See note 2 v 12
  9. Acts 23:15 Lit with
  10. Acts 23:15 Or Sanhedrin
  11. Acts 23:16 Or having been present with them, and he also entered
  12. Acts 23:20 Or Sanhedrin
  13. Acts 23:21 Lit be persuaded by them
  14. Acts 23:21 Lit men of them
  15. Acts 23:23 I.e., 9 p.m.
  16. Acts 23:23 Lit and
  17. Acts 23:23 Or slingers; or bowmen
  18. Acts 23:25 Or to this effect
  19. Acts 23:28 Or Sanhedrin
  20. Acts 23:29 Lit had no charge of
  21. Acts 23:29 Lit bonds
  22. Acts 23:30 Lit speak against him
  23. Acts 23:35 Lit him
  24. Acts 23:35 I.e., governor’s official residence