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23 保羅定睛看著公議會的各人,說:“各位弟兄,我在 神面前,行事為人一向都是憑著良心的。” 大祭司亞拿尼亞就吩咐站在他旁邊的人打保羅的嘴巴。 保羅對他說:“你這粉飾的牆啊, 神要擊打你!你坐堂要按著律法審問我,現在你竟然違背律法吩咐人打我嗎?” 站在旁邊的人民說:“你敢辱罵 神的大祭司嗎?” 保羅說:“弟兄們,我不知道他是大祭司。經上說:‘不可咒詛你人民的領袖。’”

保羅看出其中一部分是撒都該人,另一部分是法利賽人,就在公議會中大聲說:“我是法利賽人,也是法利賽人的子孫,我現在受審,是為了盼望死人復活!” 他說了這話,法利賽人和撒都該人就起了爭論,會眾也分裂了,成為兩派。 原來撒都該人說沒有復活,沒有天使,也沒有鬼靈,法利賽人卻認定這些都有。 於是眾人大嚷大鬧,有幾個法利賽派的經學家站起來辯論說:“我們看不出這個人作過甚麼壞事;說不定有靈或天使對他說過話。” 10 爭論越來越大,千夫長怕保羅被他們撕碎了,就吩咐士兵下去,把他從人群中搶救出來,帶到營樓去。

11 當天晚上,主站在保羅身邊,說:“你要壯起膽來,你怎樣在耶路撒冷作見證,也必照樣在羅馬為我作見證。”

猶太人設計謀害保羅

12 到了天亮,猶太人在一起祕密計謀,並且發誓說,不殺保羅,就不吃不喝。 13 一同策劃這項陰謀的有四十多人。 14 他們來見眾祭司長和長老,說:“我們已經發了誓,不殺保羅,就不吃東西。 15 現在你們和公議會要通知千夫長,帶保羅到你們這裡來,裝作要詳細審查他。我們已經預備好了,不等他走近,就把他殺了。” 16 但保羅的外甥聽見這項埋伏的詭計,就到營樓去,告訴保羅。 17 保羅請了一個百夫長來,說:“請你帶這個青年人去見千夫長,他有事要報告。” 18 百夫長就帶保羅的外甥去見千夫長,說:“囚犯保羅請了我去,求我帶這個青年人來見你,他有事要向你報告。” 19 千夫長拉著他的手,走到一邊,私下問他:“你有甚麼事要向我報告?” 20 他說:“猶太人已經約好了,要求你明天把保羅帶到公議會裡去,裝作要詳細審查他。 21 你不要聽他們,因為他們有四十多人正在埋伏起來等著保羅;他們發了誓,不殺保羅,就不吃不喝。現在他們已經準備好了,只等你答應。” 22 千夫長囑咐那青年人:“不要告訴人你把這事告訴了我。”然後就打發他走了。

保羅被交送腓力斯

23 千夫長叫了兩個百夫長來,說:“預備兩百個步兵,七十個騎兵、兩百個長槍手,晚上九點鐘往該撒利亞去。 24 也要預備好牲口,好讓保羅騎上,護送他安全到達腓力斯總督那裡。” 25 千夫長寫了一封信,大意如下:

26 “革老丟.呂西亞問候總督腓力斯大人。 27 這個人被猶太人捉住,快要遭害的時候,我聽說他是羅馬公民,就帶兵去把他救出來。 28 為要知道猶太人控告他的原因,我就帶他到他們的公議會那裡去。 29 我發現他被控告,是為了他們律法上的問題,並沒有甚麼該死該綁的罪名。 30 後來我接到密報,得知害他的陰謀,就立刻把他送到你那裡去,並且吩咐原告到你面前來控告他。”

31 於是士兵照著吩咐,把保羅提出來,連夜帶到安提帕底。 32 第二天,他們把保羅交給騎兵隊護送,就回營樓去了。 33 騎兵到了該撒利亞,把信呈上總督,同時把保羅也交給他。 34 總督讀了信,就問保羅是哪一省的人;知道了他是基利家人, 35 就說:“等到原告也來了,我才審問你。”於是吩咐人把他拘留在希律的王府裡。

Paul speaks to the meeting of Jewish leaders

23 Paul looked at the group of Jewish leaders and he said to them, ‘My Jewish friends, God knows that I have nothing to be ashamed about today. I have always respected God's Laws.’ The most important priest, who was called Ananias, heard Paul's words. He said to the men who were near Paul, ‘Hit that man on his mouth!’ Paul said to him, ‘God will certainly hit you! You are a hypocrite![a] You are sitting there and you are judging me. You are asking if I obey the Law of God. But you yourself do not obey the Law! You should not have said, “Hit that man!” ’

The men who were standing near Paul said to him, ‘You must not say bad things against our most important priest!’

Paul replied, ‘My brothers, I did not know that this man is the most important priest.[b] Our Jewish law says, “Do not say bad things against the man who rules your people.” So I should not have said anything bad against him.’

Then Paul saw that there were some Sadducees and also some Pharisees in the meeting. So he shouted out to the whole group of Jewish leaders, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee! My father was also a Pharisee. I believe that dead people will certainly rise and they will live again. That is the reason why you are judging me today.’

As soon as Paul said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees began to argue with each other. People in the group thought different things about Paul. (The Sadducees do not believe that dead people will live again. They do not believe that there are angels or spirits. But the Pharisees believe in all these things.)

The Sadducees and the Pharisees began to shout louder and louder against each other. There were some teachers of God's Law who were in the group of Pharisees. They stood up in the meeting and they said, ‘We do not believe that this man has done anything wrong. What he says may be true. A spirit or an angel may have spoken to him.’

10 The two groups argued more and more strongly. The leader of the soldiers thought that the people there might hurt Paul badly. So he said to his soldiers, ‘Go down into the group and take Paul away from them. Take him back with you into our strong building.’

11 The next night, the Lord Jesus came and he stood near Paul. He said to Paul, ‘Do not be afraid! You have told people here in Jerusalem about me. You must also do the same thing in Rome.’

The Jews in Jerusalem decide to kill Paul

12 The next morning, a group of Jews talked together about how they might kill Paul. They agreed to make a promise to God. They would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. 13 More than 40 men were in the group that decided this. 14 They went to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews. They said to them, ‘We have agreed together to make a serious promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 So now we want you and the group of Jewish leaders to send a message to the leader of the Roman soldiers. Ask him, “Please bring Paul to the meeting of the Jewish leaders. We want to know more about the wrong things that he has done.” That will be the message. But, we will wait for Paul and we will be ready to kill him. We will do this before he arrives here at the meeting.’

16 But the son of Paul's sister heard what the Jews had decided to do. He went into the soldiers' building and he told Paul about it.

17 So Paul asked one of the soldiers' officers to come to him. He said, ‘Please take this young man to your leader. He has something important to tell him.’ 18 Then the officer led the young man to the soldiers' leader. He said to him, ‘Paul, who is here in the prison, spoke to me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.’

19 The leader of the soldiers held the young man's hand and he led him to another place. When they were alone, he asked the young man, ‘What do you want to tell me?’

20 The young man said, ‘Some Jewish men have agreed together to send a message to you. They will ask you to take Paul down to the meeting of the Jewish leaders tomorrow. They will say that they want to ask him more questions. But that is not true. 21 Do not agree to do what they want. There are more than 40 men who will be hiding somewhere. They are waiting for Paul. They have made a serious promise to God. They will not eat or drink anything until they have killed Paul. They are now ready to do this. They will be waiting to hear your answer.’

22 The leader of the soldiers said to him, ‘Do not tell anyone that you told me about this.’ Then he sent the young man away.

The soldiers' leader sends Paul to Felix

23 Then the soldiers' leader told two of his officers to come to him. He said to them, ‘Tell 200 of our soldiers to prepare themselves. They must go to Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight. 70 soldiers who ride on horses must also go. There must also be another 200 soldiers with their weapons. 24 Take some horses for Paul to ride on. Take him to Felix the Roman ruler, and keep him safe on the journey.’

25 Then the soldiers' leader wrote a letter to Felix. He sent this message:

26 ‘I, Claudius Lysias, write this letter. I say “hello” to you, Felix, our great ruler.

27 I am sending this man to you. The Jews took hold of him and they wanted to kill him. I found out that he is a citizen of Rome. Because of that, I took my soldiers and I saved him from them. 28 The Jews said that he had done some wrong things. I wanted to know what was really true, so I took him to a meeting of their leaders. 29 The Jewish leaders said that he had not obeyed their own laws. But that was all. We could not put him in prison or kill him because of these things. That would not be right. 30 But a group of Jews decided to kill him. Someone told me about this, so I decided to send him to you immediately. I have told the Jewish leaders also to come to you in Caesarea. They can then tell you why they say that this man has done bad things.’

31 The soldiers did what their leader had told them to do. They took Paul out from the prison in their building. That night, they took him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day, the soldiers who had walked returned to their building in Jerusalem. But the soldiers who rode horses continued to travel with Paul.[c]

33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they gave the letter to Felix, the ruler. They also brought Paul to him. 34 Felix read the letter and he asked Paul, ‘Which Roman region are you from?’ Paul answered, ‘I am from Cilicia.’ 35 Felix said, ‘When the Jews arrive, they will tell me about you. I will also listen to you. I will decide what is right.’

Felix then said to his soldiers, ‘Put this man in the prison in Herod's house. Guard him carefully!’

Footnotes

  1. 23:3 Paul said that Ananias was like a wall that people had painted with white paint to make it look nice. Ananias wanted people to think that he was good. But on the inside he was bad.
  2. 23:5 Brother is a name that a Jew sometimes called another Jew.
  3. 23:32 Antipatris was 40 kilometres from Jerusalem. This was a long way for the soldiers to walk in one night. Not many Jews lived between Antipatris and Caesarea. So, after that night, the soldiers could return to Jerusalem. They did not need many soldiers to keep Paul safe after this.

23 Pablo se quedó mirando fijamente al Consejo y dijo:

―Hermanos, hasta hoy yo he actuado delante de Dios con toda buena conciencia.

Ante esto, el sumo sacerdote Ananías ordenó a los que estaban cerca de Pablo que lo golpearan en la boca.

―¡Hipócrita,[a] a ti también te va a golpear Dios! —reaccionó Pablo—. ¡Ahí estás sentado para juzgarme según la ley!, ¿y tú mismo violas la ley al mandar que me golpeen?

Los que estaban junto a Pablo le interpelaron:

―¿Cómo te atreves a insultar al sumo sacerdote de Dios?

―Hermanos, no me había dado cuenta de que es el sumo sacerdote —respondió Pablo—; de hecho, está escrito: “No hables mal del jefe de tu pueblo”.[b]

Pablo, sabiendo que unos de ellos eran saduceos y los demás fariseos, exclamó en el Consejo:

―Hermanos, yo soy fariseo de pura cepa. Se me está juzgando porque he puesto mi esperanza en la resurrección de los muertos.

Apenas dijo esto, surgió un altercado entre los fariseos y los saduceos, y la asamblea quedó dividida. (Los saduceos sostienen que no hay resurrección, ni ángeles ni espíritus; los fariseos, en cambio, reconocen todo esto).

Se produjo un gran alboroto, y algunos de los maestros de la ley que eran fariseos se pusieron de pie y protestaron. «No encontramos ningún delito en este hombre —dijeron—. ¿Acaso no podría haberle hablado un espíritu o un ángel?» 10 Se tornó tan violento el altercado que el comandante tuvo miedo de que hicieran pedazos a Pablo. Así que ordenó a los soldados que bajaran para sacarlo de allí por la fuerza y llevárselo al cuartel.

11 A la noche siguiente, el Señor se apareció a Pablo y le dijo: «¡Ánimo! Así como has dado testimonio de mí en Jerusalén, es necesario que lo des también en Roma».

Conspiración para matar a Pablo

12 Muy de mañana, los judíos tramaron una conspiración y juraron bajo maldición no comer ni beber hasta que lograran matar a Pablo. 13 Más de cuarenta hombres estaban implicados en esta conspiración. 14 Se presentaron ante los jefes de los sacerdotes y los ancianos, y les dijeron:

―Nosotros hemos jurado bajo maldición no comer nada hasta que logremos matar a Pablo. 15 Ahora, con el respaldo del Consejo, pedidle al comandante que haga comparecer al reo ante vosotros, con el pretexto de obtener información más precisa sobre su caso. Nosotros estaremos listos para matarlo en el camino.

16 Pero, cuando el hijo de la hermana de Pablo se enteró de esta emboscada, entró en el cuartel y avisó a Pablo. 17 Este llamó entonces a uno de los centuriones y le pidió:

―Lleva a este joven al comandante, porque tiene algo que decirle.

18 Así que el centurión lo llevó al comandante, y le dijo:

―El preso Pablo me llamó y me pidió que te trajera este joven, porque tiene algo que decirte.

19 El comandante tomó de la mano al joven, lo llevó aparte y le preguntó:

―¿Qué quieres decirme?

20 ―Los judíos se han puesto de acuerdo para pedirte que mañana lleves a Pablo ante el Consejo con el pretexto de obtener información más precisa acerca de él. 21 No te dejes convencer, porque más de cuarenta de ellos lo esperan emboscados. Han jurado bajo maldición no comer ni beber hasta que hayan logrado matarlo. Ya están listos; solo aguardan a que tú les concedas su petición.

22 El comandante despidió al joven con esta advertencia:

―No le digas a nadie que me has informado de esto.

Trasladan a Pablo a Cesarea

23 Entonces el comandante llamó a dos de sus centuriones y les ordenó:

―Alistad un destacamento de doscientos soldados de infantería, setenta de caballería y doscientos lanceros para que vayan a Cesarea esta noche a las nueve.[c] 24 Preparad también cabalgaduras para llevar a Pablo sano y salvo al gobernador Félix.

25 Además, escribió una carta en estos términos:

26 Claudio Lisias,

a su excelencia el gobernador Félix:

Saludos.

27 Los judíos prendieron a este hombre y estaban a punto de matarlo, pero yo llegué con mis soldados y lo rescaté, porque me había enterado de que es ciudadano romano. 28 Yo quería saber de qué lo acusaban, así que lo llevé al Consejo judío. 29 Descubrí que lo acusaban de algunas cuestiones de su ley, pero no había contra él cargo alguno que mereciera la muerte o la cárcel. 30 Cuando me informaron que se tramaba una conspiración contra este hombre, decidí enviártelo en seguida. También ordené a sus acusadores que expongan delante de ti los cargos que tengan contra él.

31 Así que los soldados, según se les había ordenado, tomaron a Pablo y lo llevaron de noche hasta Antípatris. 32 Al día siguiente dejaron que la caballería siguiera con él mientras ellos volvían al cuartel. 33 Cuando la caballería llegó a Cesarea, le entregaron la carta al gobernador y le presentaron también a Pablo. 34 Félix leyó la carta y preguntó de qué provincia era. Al enterarse de que Pablo era de Cilicia, 35 le dijo: «Te daré audiencia cuando lleguen tus acusadores». Y ordenó que lo dejaran bajo custodia en el palacio de Herodes.

Footnotes

  1. 23:3 Hipócrita. Lit. Pared blanqueada.
  2. 23:5 Éx 22:28
  3. 23:23 esta … nueve. Lit. a la tercera hora de la noche.