1保罗注视着公会的人，说：“弟兄们，我在上帝面前行事为人一向问心无愧。” 2大祭司亚拿尼亚一听，就命那些站在旁边的人打保罗的嘴。 3保罗对亚拿尼亚说：“你这伪君子23:3 “伪君子”希腊文是“粉饰的墙”。，上帝要击打你！你坐在那里不是应当依法审问我吗？你怎么违法叫人打我？”
4站在旁边的人说：“你竟敢辱骂上帝的大祭司？” 5保罗说：“弟兄们，我不知道他是大祭司。我知道圣经上说，‘不可咒诅百姓的官长。’”
6保罗发现他们一些是法利赛人，一些是撒都该人，就在公会中高声说：“弟兄们，我是法利赛人，也是法利赛人的子孙。我因为盼望死人复活，才在这里受审！” 7这句话立刻引起法利赛人和撒都该人之间的争论，公会分成了两派。 8因为撒都该人认为没有复活，也没有天使和灵，而法利赛人认为这些都有。
9众人大声喧嚷，有几个法利赛派的律法教师站起来争辩说：“我们找不出这人有什么错处，也许真的有灵或天使跟他说过话。” 10争论越来越激烈，千夫长怕保罗会被他们扯碎了，就派人把他从人群中救出来，带回军营。
11当天晚上，主站在保罗身旁对他说：“要勇敢！正如你在耶路撒冷为我做了见证，你也必须在罗马为我做见证。”
阴谋杀害保罗
12天亮后，犹太人设下阴谋，并起誓说：“不杀保罗，誓不吃喝！” 13有四十多人参与了这个阴谋。 14他们去见祭司长和长老，说：“我们已经发了誓，不杀保罗不吃饭。 15请你们和公会出面通知千夫长，请他把保罗押到你们这里来，就说要进一步审讯他。我们准备在他到达之前杀掉他！”
16保罗的外甥听到这一阴谋，就去军营通知保罗。 17保罗请来一位百夫长，说：“请赶快带这青年去见千夫长，他有要事禀告！” 18百夫长领那青年去见千夫长，说：“那囚犯保罗叫我带这青年来，说有要事禀告。”
19千夫长就拉着那青年的手走到一旁，私下问他：“你有什么事要告诉我？” 20他说：“那些犹太人约好了，要请求你明天带保罗到公会受审，假装要详细审问他的事。 21你不要答应他们，因为他们有四十多个人会埋伏在半路，并且还起誓说，‘不杀保罗就不吃不喝’。他们现在已经准备就绪，就等你答应了。”
22千夫长听后，就叫他回去，并叮嘱道：“你向我禀告的事，不要告诉别人。”
保罗被押往凯撒利亚
23于是，千夫长召来两名百夫长，吩咐道：“预备二百名步兵、七十名骑兵、二百名长枪手，今晚九时出发去凯撒利亚。 24要给保罗预备坐骑，护送他安全抵达腓利斯总督那里。”
25千夫长写了公文给腓利斯总督，内容如下： 26“克劳狄·吕西亚敬问腓利斯总督大人安。 27这人被犹太人抓住，险些被他们杀害。我得知他是罗马公民，便带兵去救了他。 28为了弄清楚他们控告他的缘由，我押他到犹太人的公会受审， 29发现他被控告与他们的律法有关，他并没有犯该被监禁或处死的罪。 30我得知有人准备暗杀他，便立即护送他到你那里，并通知他的控告者去你那里告他。”
31军兵奉命行事，连夜护送保罗到安提帕底。 32第二天，由骑兵继续护送，其余军兵返回军营。 33他们到了凯撒利亚，将公文呈交总督，把保罗交给他。 34总督看过公文，便问保罗是哪省的人，得知保罗是基利迦人，就说： 35“等告你的人来了，我会审理你的案子。”于是下令把保罗关在希律的王府里。
1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I have always done my duty to God. To this day I feel that I have done nothing wrong.” 2Ananias the high priest heard this. So he ordered the men standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “You pretender! God will hit you! You sit there and judge me by the law. But you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to hit me!”
4Those who were standing near Paul spoke to him. They said, “How dare you talk like that to God’s high priest!”
5Paul replied, “Brothers, I didn’t realize he was the high priest. It is written, ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ ” (Exodus 22:28)
6Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I am a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial.” 7When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides. 8The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don’t believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.
9People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10The people arguing were getting out of control. The commanding officer was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him away from them by force. The officer had told them to bring Paul into the fort.
11The next night the Lord stood near Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must do the same in Rome.”
The Plan to Kill Paul
12The next morning some Jews gathered secretly to make plans against Paul. They made a promise to themselves. They promised that they would not eat or drink anything until they killed him. 13More than 40 men took part in this plan. 14They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said, “We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must make an appeal to the commanding officer. Ask him to bring Paul to you. Pretend you want more facts about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”
16But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. So he went into the fort and told Paul.
17Then Paul called one of the commanders. He said to him, “Take this young man to the commanding officer. He has something to tell him.” 18So the commander took Paul’s nephew to the officer.
The commander said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. The young man has something to tell you.”
19The commanding officer took the young man by the hand. He spoke to him in private. “What do you want to tell me?” the officer asked.
20He said, “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow. They will pretend they want more facts about him. 21Don’t give in to them. More than 40 of them are waiting in hiding to attack him. They have promised that they will not eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now. All they need is for you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin.”
22The commanding officer let the young man go. But he gave him a warning. “Don’t tell anyone you have reported this to me,” he said.
Paul Is Taken to Caesarea
23Then the commanding officer called for two of his commanders. He ordered them, “Gather a company of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 men armed with spears. Get them ready to go to Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. 24Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
25Here is the letter the officer wrote.
26I, Claudius Lysias, am writing this letter.
I am sending it to His Excellency, Governor Felix.
Greetings.
27The Jews grabbed Paul. They were about to kill him. But I came with my soldiers and saved him. I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28I wanted to know why they were bringing charges against him. So I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29I found out that the charge against him was based on questions about their law. But there was no charge against him worthy of death or prison. 30Then I was told about a plan against the man. So I sent him to you at once. I also ordered those bringing charges against him to present their case to you.
31The soldiers followed their orders. During the night they took Paul with them. They brought him as far as Antipatris. 32The next day they let the horsemen go on with him. The soldiers returned to the fort. 33The horsemen arrived in Caesarea. They gave the letter to the governor. Then they handed Paul over to him. 34The governor read the letter. He asked Paul where he was from. He learned that Paul was from Cilicia. 35So he said, “I will hear your case when those bringing charges against you get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
