Acts 23
1 Ref And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day.
2 Ref And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.
3 Ref Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?
4 And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest?
5 Ref And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.
6 Ref But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.
7 Ref And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.
8 Ref For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.
9 Ref And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?
10 Ref And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.
11 Ref And the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in Rome.
12 Ref And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.
13 Ref And more than forty of them took this oath.
14 Ref And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death
15 Ref So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death.
16 Ref But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.
17 Ref And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him.
18 Ref So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.
19 Ref And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me?
20 Ref And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail.
21 Ref But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order.
22 Ref So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.