¹And Paul looked at the Sanhedrin council intently and said, “Men and brothers, I have lived as a citizen with a fully clear conscience before God up to this day.” ²But Ananias the high priest ordered those standing by him to strike his mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. And you sit judging me according to the law, but you order me to be struck, acting contrary to the law.” ⁴Then those standing around said, “Do you insult the high priest of God?” ⁵Then Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that it was the high priest. For it stands written: ‘You shall not speak ill of the ruler of your people.’ ” ⁶Then Paul, knowing that one part was of the Sadducees and the other Pharisees, shouted out in the Sanhedrin council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. For the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am being judged.” ⁷And when he had said this, contention arose with the Pharisees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor even angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess all of these. ⁹And loud shouting arose, and the scribes of the faction of the Pharisees stood up and strove, and they said, “We do not find anything wrong in this man. And if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let us not fight God.” ¹⁰And when a lot of contention arose, the cohort commander saw to it that Paul should not be torn apart by them, and he ordered the army to come down and seize him and take him away from them and to bring him to the camp. ¹¹The following night the Lord came and stood by him and said, “Take courage, Paul, for as you bore solemn witness to the things concerning me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness in Rome.” ¹²And when day had broken, some of the Jews made an alliance and bound themselves with a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³And there were more than forty who engaged in this conspiracy. ¹⁴And they went to the senior priests and the elders and said, “We have absolutely bound ourselves with a curse, that we will not taste anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵So for your part, give a plain message to the cohort commander, with the Sanhedrin council, to the intent that he brings him down to you tomorrow, as if you intend to investigate more precisely the matters concerning him. Then for our part, we are prepared to eliminate him before he comes near.” ¹⁶But the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush plot, and he went to the camp and went in and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the cohort commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸So he took him with him and brought him to the cohort commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called for me and asked me to bring this young man to you, who has something to say to you.” ¹⁹Then the cohort commander took him by the hand and went aside privately and inquired, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰And he said, “The Jews have agreed together to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Sanhedrin council, as if you intend to ascertain something more precisely about him. ²¹So don't you be persuaded by them. For more than forty men of theirs are making an ambush, and they have bound themselves with a curse neither to eat nor drink until they have eliminated him, and now they are ready, expecting your promise.” ²²So the cohort commander sent the young man away, having given this instruction, “Do not divulge to anyone the fact that you have reported this to me.” ²³And he called for a certain two of the centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to be ready at the third hour of the night, ²⁴and to provide pack animals, to mount Paul on and bring him safely through to Felix the governor”, ²⁵and he wrote a letter comprising the following content: ²⁶“From Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. ²⁷I intervened with the army and rescued this man, having learned that he was a Roman citizen, when he had been seized by the Jews and was about to be eliminated by them, ²⁸and wishing to know the reason why they were bringing a charge against him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin council, ²⁹and I found that he was charged concerning inquiries into their law, but not in any way under a charge worthy of death or bonds. ³⁰And when a plot against the man by the Jews had been disclosed to me which was about to take place, I immediately sent word to you, also instructing his accusers to state the charges against him in your presence. Farewell.” ³¹So the soldiers took Paul with them, according to their orders, and they brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²And the next day, they left it to the horsemen to go with him, and they returned to the camp. ³³And when they had arrived in Caesarea, they handed over the letter to the governor, and they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴Then the governor read it and asked what province he was from, and he ascertained that he was from Cilicia. ³⁵He said, “I will hold your hearing when your accusers also arrive.” And he ordered him to be guarded in Herod's official residence.

Reference(s) in Chapter 23: v.5 ↔ Exodus 22:27^MT (Exodus 22:28^AV).