Acts 23

(1) High Priest’s Men Hit Paul

Paul stared at the Council and said,

“Family, I’ve lived my life with a perfectly good conscience in front of God up to this very day.”

At that, the high priest Ananias ordered the people nearby to punch Paul in the mouth. Paul responded,

“You, sir, are about to take a punch from God! You’re like a crumbling house disguised by a fresh coat of paint! Are you really gonna use the law to press charges against me while you break the law yourself by ordering them to punch me?”

Then Paul told the crowd,

“Family, I didn’t realize he was the high priest! I know it’s written that we shouldn’t speak poorly about the ruler of our people.”

(6) Paul Brought to Barracks

Then Paul realized that Sadducees and Pharisees were both present, so he shouted,

“Family! I’m a Pharisee, and my dad’s a Pharisee! The whole reason I’m on trial today is because I hope in the resurrection of the dead!”

That sparked a huge disagreement between the two groups, dividing the assembly. (The Sadducees say that resurrection, angels, and spirits don’t exist, while Pharisees acknowledge all of those things.) So the Council was thrown into an uproar. Some of the Bible scholars from the Pharisees stood up and started saying,

“We don’t find anything wrong with this guy! Who knows? A spirit or angel could have told him something!” 

As their disagreement intensified, the commander of 1,000 Roman soldiers thought that the crowd was about to rip Paul’s body into pieces, so he ordered his troops to take him away by force and bring him back into the barracks. 

(11) Jesus Encourages Paul

That night, the Ruler stood next to Paul and told him,

“Hang on to that courage—the same way you’ve been standing up for Me in Jerusalem is how you’ll need to testify at Rome too.”

(12) Jewish Mob Plans to Murder Paul

The next day, the Jews formed a mob, and vowed not to eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. A group of over 40 people made that plan and went to the chief priests and elders, saying,

“We made a serious vow not to eat or drink anything until we’ve killed Paul. Tell the Council ask the commander to bring Paul here like you need to interrogate him further in order to decide his case. Then we’ll do our part by killing him before he even gets here.”

(16) Paul’s Nephew Informs the Commander

But Paul’s nephew (his sister’s son) heard about the ambush, so he went to the barracks and warned his uncle. Paul called over one of the centurions and told him,

“Escort this young man to the commander, because he has something to tell him.”

So the centurion led Paul’s nephew to the commander and said,

“Paul the prisoner wanted me to bring you this young man who has something to tell you.”

The commander pulled the nephew to the side, and asked him,

“What was it that you needed to tell me?”

The nephew said,

“The Jews are about to ask you to bring Paul to the Council tomorrow, posing like they need to ask him more questions. But don’t listen to them! There are more than 40 of them who will be waiting to ambush him! They vowed not to eat or drink anything until they kill him. Right now they’re just waiting for you to confirm that you’ll bring him. 

Then the commander let the young man go and told him,

“Don’t tell anyone that you told me this.”

(23) Paul Sent to Governor for Trial

Then the commander called over 2 of the centurions and told them,

“Prepare 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea by 9pm tonight.”

They also needed a horse for Paul to ride while they escorted him to governor Felix. Then the commander wrote a letter that went like this:

“From: Claudius Lysias
To: Most Excellent Governor Felix

Greetings,

The Jews arrested this man and were about to kill him, but I brought some troops and rescued him, since he’s a Roman. I wanted to find out why they were pressing charges against him, so I brought him to their Council to find out. It turns out all their accusations have to do with their own laws, but by no means does he deserve to die or even be imprisoned. I was tipped off that there would be a plot against him, so I sent him to you right away and told his accusers to press charges there with you.”

(31) Governor Promises Trial

So the soldiers followed orders and escorted Paul to Antipatris that night. The next day, the horsemen continued escorting him while the foot soldiers returned to the barracks. When the group arrived in Caesarea, they brought Paul to the governor and delivered the letter. After reading it, he asked what province the letter was from. When he found out it was from Cilicia, he told Paul,

“I’ll give you a hearing once your accusers get here.”

Then he gave orders for Paul to be kept in Herod’s house.