Acts 21:37-23:35

New American Standard Bible

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(A)the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Then you are not ^(B)the Egyptian who some ^[a]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(C)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ But Paul said, “^(D)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(E)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^(F)the stairs, ^(G)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there ^[b]was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^[c](H)Hebrew dialect, saying,

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

22 “^(I)[d]Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^[e](J)Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³ “^(K)I am ^(L)a Jew, born in ^(M)Tarsus of ^(N)Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^[f]under ^(O)Gamaliel, ^[g](P)strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^(Q)you all are today. ^4 (R)I persecuted this ^(S)Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also ^(T)the high priest and all ^(U)the Council of the elders ^[h]can testify. From them I also ^(V)received letters to ^(W)the brothers, and started off for ^(X)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[i]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “^(Y)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^(Z)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(AA)saw the light, but ^(AB)did not ^[j]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(AC)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(AD)could not see because of the ^[k]brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “Now a certain ^(AE)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and ^(AF)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘^(AG)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ^[l](AH)at that very moment I looked up at him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(AI)The God of our fathers has ^(AJ)appointed you to know His will and to ^(AK)see the ^(AL)Righteous One and to hear a ^[m]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(AM)a witness for Him to all people of ^(AN)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(AO)Get up and be baptized, and ^(AP)wash away your sins by ^(AQ)calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “It happened when I ^(AR)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(AS)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(AT)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(AU)I used to imprison and ^(AV)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(AW)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(AX)to the Gentiles.’”

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(AY)Away with such a man from the earth, for ^(AZ)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were shouting and ^(BA)throwing off their cloaks and ^(BB)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into ^(BC)the barracks, saying that he was to be ^(BD)interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out ^[n]with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[o]lawful for you to flog ^(BE)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷ The commander came and said to ^[p]Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” ²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to ^(BF)interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also ^(BG)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ^[q](BH)put him in chains.

³⁰ Now on the next day, ^(BI)wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he ^(BJ)released him and ordered the chief priests and all ^(BK)the ^[r]Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.

Paul before the Council

23 Now looking intently at ^(BL)the ^[s]Council, Paul said, “^[t](BM)Brothers, ^(BN)I have ^[u]lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.” ² But the high priest ^(BO)Ananias commanded those standing beside him ^(BP)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^(BQ)you whitewashed wall! Do you ^(BR)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?” ⁴ But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘^(BS)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ But Paul, perceiving that one group were ^(BT)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in ^(BU)the ^[v]Council, “^[w](BV)Brothers, ^(BW)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^(BX)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” ⁷ When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For ^(BY)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ And a great uproar occurred; and some of ^(BZ)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “^(CA)We find nothing wrong with this man; ^(CB)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 ^(CC)the barracks.

¹¹ But on ^(CD)the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “^(CE)Be courageous! For ^(CF)as you have ^(CG)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, ^(CH)the Jews formed a ^[x]conspiracy and ^(CI)put themselves under an ^[y]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 ^(CJ)put ourselves under an ^[z]oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore, you ^[aa]and ^(CK)the ^[ab]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, ^[ac]and he came and entered ^(CL)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 ^(CM)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, “^(CN)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^(CO)the ^[ad]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. ²¹ So do not ^[ae]listen to them, for more than forty ^[af]of them are ^(CP)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have ^(CQ)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 ^[ag]the third hour of the night to proceed to ^(CR)Caesarea, ^[ah]with seventy horsemen and two hundred ^[ai]spearmen.” ²⁴ They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^(CS)Felix the governor. ²⁵ And he wrote a letter ^[aj]with the following content:

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 ^(DF)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to ^(DG)the barracks. ³³ When these horsemen had come to ^(DH)Caesarea and delivered the letter to ^(DI)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴ Now when he had read it, he also asked from what ^(DJ)province Paul was, and when he learned that ^(DK)he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing when your ^(DL)accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for ^[ao]Paul to be ^(DM)kept in Herod’s ^[ap]Praetorium.