Book of Common Prayer
Paul’s acute danger
12-15 Early in the morning the Jews made a conspiracy and bound themselves by a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. Over forty of them were involved in the plot, and they approached the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath to let nothing pass our lips until we have killed Paul. Now you and the council must make it plain to the colonel that you want him to bring Paul down to you, suggesting that you want to examine his case more closely. We shall be standing by ready to kill him before he gets here.”
Leakage of information leads to Paul’s protection
16-17 However, Paul’s nephew got wind of this plot and he came and found his way into the barracks and told Paul about it. Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the colonel for he has something to report to him.”
18 So the centurion took him and brought him into the colonel’s presence, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and requested that this young man should be brought to you as he has something to say to you.”
19 The colonel took his hand, and drew him aside (where they could not be overheard), and asked, “What have you got to tell me?”
20-21 And he replied, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow as though they were going to enquire more carefully into his case. But I beg you not to let them persuade you. For more than forty of them are waiting for him—they have sworn a solemn oath that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. They are all ready at this moment—all they want is for you to give the order.”
22 At this the colonel dismissed the young man with the caution, “Don’t let a soul know that you have given me this information.”
23-24 Then he summoned two of his centurions, and said, “Get two hundred men ready to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, by nine o’clock tonight.” (Mounts were also to be provided to carry Paul safely to Felix the governor.)
A Roman centurion’s extraordinary faith in Jesus
7 1-5 When Jesus had finished these talks to the people, he came to Capernaum, where it happened that there was a man very seriously ill and in fact at the point of death. He was the slave of a centurion who thought very highly of him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him with the request that he would come and save his servant’s life. When they came to Jesus, they urged him strongly to grant this request, saying that the centurion deserved to have this done for him. “He loves our nation and has built us a synagogue out of his own pocket,” they said.
6-8 So Jesus went with them, but as he approached the house, the centurion sent some of his personal friends with the message, “Don’t trouble yourself, sir! I’m not important enough for you to come into my house—I didn’t think I was fit to come to you in person. Just give the order, please, and my servant will recover. I am used to working under orders, and I have soldiers under me. I can say to one, ‘Go’, and he goes, or I can say to another, ‘Come here’, and he comes; or I can say to my slave, ‘Do this job’, and he does it.”
9 These words amazed Jesus and he turned to the crowd who were following behind him, and said, “I have never found faith like this anywhere, even in Israel!”
10 Then those who had been sent by the centurion returned to the house and found the slave perfectly well.
Jesus brings a dead youth back to life
11-13 Not long afterwards, Jesus went into a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. As they approached the city gate, it happened that some people were carrying out a dead man, the only son of his widowed mother. The usual crowd of fellow-townsmen was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he walked up and put his hand on the bier while the bearers stood still. Then he said, “Young man, wake up!”
15-16 And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus handed him to his mother. Everybody present was awe-struck and they praised God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us and God has turned his face towards his people.”
17 And this report of him spread through the whole of Judea and the surrounding countryside.
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.