1Paul looked at the Jewish_Council. He looked into their eyes and he said to them: ‘Friends, I speak the truth when I say that I have lived as God wants me to live. I did not do wrong.’
2Then Ananias, the high-priest, told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on his mouth. 3Paul looked at the high-priest and he said to him: ‘God will hit you, you hypocrite. You are like a dirty wall that is painted white. You sit here to listen to the laws and to judge me, but you do not obey the laws because you are telling them to hit me.’
4The men near Paul said to him: ‘That is God's high-priest. You must not talk to him like that.’
5Paul answered: ‘Friends, I did not know that he was the high-priest. I know that the Old_Testament says we may not say bad things to a leader of our nation.’
6Paul knew that some of the Jews from the Jewish_Council were Sadducees and that some of them were Pharisees. So he talked loudly and he said to the Jewish_Council: ‘Friends, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee. I believe that God will make the dead people stand up and they will live again. I know this and I am sure God will do it. That is why you are judging me today.’
7When Paul said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue and the Jewish_Council was divided into 2 groups. 8They argued because the Sadducees do not believe that God will cause the dead people to stand up and live again. They also do not believe that there are angels or spirits. The Pharisees believe all of these. 9Everyone started to shout and make a noise and then some of the teachers_of_the_Laws who were Pharisees got up and said: ‘We think that this man, Paul, has done nothing wrong. Maybe an angel or a spirit came to him and talked to him.’
10Then they argued more and they wanted to fight. The Roman commander was afraid that they would hurt Paul, so he sent his soldiers to run and get Paul and take him back to the place where the soldiers stayed. 11That night the Lord came to Paul and He said: ‘Paul, you must not worry or be discouraged. You have told the people about Me here in Jerusalem. You must also go and tell it to the people in the city of Rome.’
The Jews make a secret plan to kill Paul
12That morning some of the Jews made a secret plan to kill Paul. They said: ‘God is our Witness and He can punish us if we eat or drink anything before we have killed Paul.’
13There were more than 40 Jews who said this. 14They went to the chief_priests and elders and said to them: ‘We have made a promise to God. He can punish us if we eat or drink anything before we have killed Paul. 15You and the Jewish_Council must ask the Roman commander to bring Paul here again so that you can ask him some more questions about what he has done. We will wait for Paul and we will kill him before he gets to you.’
16But the son of Paul's sister heard what the men said and he went to the place where the soldiers stayed and he told Paul what they wanted to do. 17Then Paul called one of the officers and he told the officer: ‘Take this young man to the commander. He wants to tell him something.’
18The officer took the young man to the commander and the officer said: ‘Paul, the prisoner, called me and he asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.’
19The commander took the young man's hand and he walked with him to a place where no other people were. He then asked the young man: ‘What is it that you want to tell me?’
20The young man said: ‘The Jews have made a secret plan to bring Paul to the Jewish_Council tomorrow. They will lie to you and say that they want to ask Paul more questions, to find out if he has done wrong. 21But you must not do what they ask. More than 40 men will be waiting to kill Paul. They have promised that they will not eat or drink anything before they have killed Paul and they said God is their Witness, and He can punish them if they don't do it. Those men are ready now to do it. They are waiting for you to tell Paul to come to the Jewish_Council.’
22The commander told the young man to go home and to tell no one what he had said to the commander.
The Roman commander sends Paul to governor Felix
23Then the commander called 2 of his officers and told them: ‘You must get 200 soldiers ready tonight at the 3rd hour (9 o'clock). They must go to the city of Caesarea. You must also get 70 soldiers on horses and 200 soldiers with spears. 24Take horses with you so that Paul can ride on them, and make sure that you get Paul safely to governor Felix.’
25Then the commander wrote a letter to Felix. He wrote:
26‘I, Claudius Lisias, write this letter to you. Dear governor Felix, I send greetings. 27The Jews grabbed this man and they wanted to kill him. But they told me that he is a Roman_citizen and I sent soldiers to save him from the Jews.
28I wanted to find out why the Jews were angry with him, so I took him to the Jewish_Council. 29I heard that they were accusing him because he did not do what the Jewish laws say. These are things that a lot of Jews fight about, but I can not put him in jail or kill him for that.
30Someone told me that the Jews have made a secret plan to kill him and I have sent him to you immediately. I told the Jews who have accused him that they must go to you and tell you what he has done wrong.’
31The soldiers did what the commander had told them and that night they took Paul to the town of Antipatris. 32The next day the soldiers who were on horses went further with Paul and the other soldiers went back to Jerusalem to the place where the soldiers stayed. 33When the soldiers on horses came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor and let Paul stand before him. 34The governor read the letter and he asked Paul what province he came from. Paul said that he came from the province of Cilicia. 35Then the governor told Paul: ‘I will wait for the Jews who are accusing you. I will listen to what they say and to what you say. Then I will decide if you have done wrong.’
The governor told the soldiers to keep Paul in the palace that King Herod built.
