Book of Common Prayer

³⁰ The officer wanted to know the real reason why the Jewish leaders were angry with Paul. So the next day he had Paul untied. He called the chief priests and the leaders to hold a court meeting. Then he took Paul down and brought him in before them.

23 Paul looked at the members of the court and said, `My brothers, I have done what I thought God wanted me to do, right up to this day.'

² Ananias, the high priest, said to those who were standing near Paul, `Hit his mouth!'

³ Paul said, `God will hit you down, you dirty wall painted white! You sit there to judge me by the law and you break the law by telling them to hit me.'

⁴ The people who stood near Paul said, `Do you say a wrong thing like that to God's high priest?'

⁵ Paul said, `I did not know that he is a high priest. The holy writings say, "You shall not say anything wrong about a ruler of your people." '

⁶ Paul knew that some of the men were from the Sadducee group and some of them were from the Pharisee group. So he called out in the court, `My brothers, I am a Pharisee. My fathers were Pharisees. I am being judged because I believe that the dead will be raised to life again.'

⁷ When he had said that, the Pharisees and the Sadducees began to talk back and forth. The men in the court were divided.

⁸ The Sadducees say the dead will not be raised again. They say there is no angel or spirit. But the Pharisees believe in all these three things.

⁹ There was much shouting. Some of the clever men who were Pharisees got up. They said, `We do not think this man has done wrong. Perhaps some angel or spirit really did speak to him.'

¹⁰ The people started fighting. The commanding officer was afraid they would tear Paul into pieces. So he told the soldiers to take Paul and bring him into the army house.

¹¹ The next night the Lord stood beside Paul. He said, `Be glad, Paul. You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must also talk about me in Rome.'

2 After a few days he came back to Capernaum. People soon heard that he was at home.

² Many came together right away. The house was full. There was no more room, not even outside near the door. Jesus was telling them God's message.

³ Four men brought a sick man to Jesus. The man could not move his arms or legs.

⁴ But they could not get in the house where Jesus was, because there were so many people. So they went up on the roof. They made a hole in the roof. Then they let down the mat with the sick man on it.

⁵ Jesus saw that they believed he would be healed. So he said to the sick man, `Son, the wrong things you have done are forgiven.'

⁶ Some of the scribes were sitting there.

⁷ They were thinking, `Why does this man say such wrong things against God? He is not giving God respect! Who can forgive the wrong things people do? No one but God can do that.'

⁸ Jesus understood in his spirit what the scribes were thinking. He said right away, `Why do you think these wrong things in your hearts?

⁹ Which is easier, to say to the sick man, "The wrong things you have done are forgiven," or to say, "Get up. Take up your mat and walk"?

¹⁰ I want you to know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive the wrong things people do.' So he said to the sick man,

¹¹ `I tell you, get up! Take up your mat and go home.'

¹² Right away the man stood up in front of them. He took up his mat and went home. They were all very much surprised, and they praised God. They said, `We have never seen anything like this before.'