Acts 22:17-23:10

New American Standard Bible

¹⁷ “It happened when I ^(A)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(B)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(C)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 ^(D)I used to imprison and ^(E)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(F)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 ^(G)to the Gentiles.’”

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(H)Away with such a man from the earth, for ^(I)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were shouting and ^(J)throwing off their cloaks and ^(K)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into ^(L)the barracks, saying that he was to be ^(M)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 ^[a]with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[b]lawful for you to flog ^(N)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 ^[c]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 ^(O)interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also ^(P)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ^[d](Q)put him in chains.

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

Paul before the Council

23 Now looking intently at ^(U)the ^[f]Council, Paul said, “^[g](V)Brothers, ^(W)I have ^[h]lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.” ² But the high priest ^(X)Ananias commanded those standing beside him ^(Y)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^(Z)you whitewashed wall! Do you ^(AA)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: ‘^(AB)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ But Paul, perceiving that one group were ^(AC)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in ^(AD)the ^[i]Council, “^[j](AE)Brothers, ^(AF)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^(AG)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 ^(AH)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 ^(AI)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “^(AJ)We find nothing wrong with this man; ^(AK)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 ^(AL)the barracks.