Acts 23:12-22

New Century Version

¹² In the morning some evil people made a plan to kill Paul, and they took an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed him. ¹³ There were more than forty men who made this plan. ¹⁴ They went to the leading priests and the elders and said, “We have taken an oath not to eat or drink until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander to bring Paul out to you as though you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”

¹⁶ But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan and went to the army building and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.”

¹⁸ So the officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander and said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”

¹⁹ The commander took the young man’s hand and led him to a place where they could be alone. He asked, “What do you want to tell me?”

²⁰ The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think they are going to ask him more questions. ²¹ But don’t believe them! More than forty men are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to agree.”

²² The commander sent the young man away, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”