1Tinitigang mabuti ni Pablo ang mga miyembro ng Korte at sinabi, “Mga kapatid, kung tungkol sa aking pamumuhay, malinis ang aking konsensya sa Dios hanggang ngayon.” 2Pagkasabi nito ni Pablo, inutusan ng punong pari na si Ananias ang mga nakatayong malapit kay Pablo na sampalin siya sa bibig. 3Sinabi ni Pablo sa kanya, “Sampalin ka rin ng Dios, ikaw na pakitang-tao! Nakaupo ka riyan para hatulan ako ayon sa Kautusan, pero nilabag mo rin ang Kautusan nang iniutos mo na sampalin ako!” 4Sinabi ng mga taong nakatayo malapit kay Pablo, “Iniinsulto mo ang punong pari ng Dios!” 5Sumagot si Pablo, “Mga kapatid, hindi ko alam na siya pala ang punong pari, dahil sinasabi sa Kasulatan na huwag tayong magsalita ng masama laban sa namumuno sa atin.”
6Nang makita ni Pablo na may mga Saduceo at mga Pariseo roon, sinabi niya nang malakas sa mga miyembro ng Korte, “Mga kapatid, akoʼy isang Pariseo, at ang aking ama at mga ninuno ay Pariseo rin. Inaakusahan ako ngayon dahil umaasa akong muling mabubuhay ang mga patay.”
7Nang masabi niya ito, nagkagulo ang mga Pariseo at mga Saduceo at nagkahati-hati ang mga miyembro ng Korte. 8Nangyari iyon dahil ayon sa mga Saduceo walang muling pagkabuhay. Hindi rin sila naniniwala na may mga anghel o may mga espiritu. Pero ang lahat ng ito ay pinaniniwalaan ng mga Pariseo. 9Kaya ang nangyari, lumakas ang kanilang sigawan. Tumayo ang ilang mga tagapagturo ng Kautusan na mga Pariseo at mariin nilang sinabi, “Wala kaming makitang kasalanan sa taong ito. Baka may espiritu o kayaʼy anghel na nakipag-usap sa kanya!”
10Lalong uminit ang kanilang pagtatalo, hanggang sa natakot ang kumander na baka pagtulung-tulungan ng mga tao si Pablo. Kaya nag-utos siya sa kanyang mga sundalo na bumaba at kunin si Pablo sa mga tao at dalhin sa kampo.
11Kinagabihan, nagpakita ang Panginoon kay Pablo at sinabi sa kanya, “Huwag kang matakot! Sapagkat kung paano ka nagpahayag tungkol sa akin dito sa Jerusalem, ganoon din ang gagawin mo sa Roma.”
Ang Planong Pagpatay kay Pablo
12-13Kinaumagahan, nagpulong ang mahigit 40 Judio, at nagplano sila kung ano ang kanilang gagawin. Nanumpa sila na hindi sila kakain at iinom hanggaʼt hindi nila napapatay si Pablo. 14Pagkatapos, pumunta sila sa mga namamahalang pari at sa mga pinuno ng mga Judio at sinabi sa kanila, “Nanumpa kami na hindi kami kakain ng kahit ano hanggaʼt hindi namin napapatay si Pablo. 15Kaya hilingin ninyo at ng Korte sa kumander ng mga sundalong Romano na gusto ninyong papuntahin ulit dito sa inyo si Pablo. Sabihin ninyo na gusto ninyong imbestigahan nang mabuti si Pablo. Pero bago pa siya makarating dito, papatayin namin siya.”
16Pero ang plano nilaʼy narinig ng pamangking lalaki ni Pablo, na anak ng kapatid niyang babae. Kaya pumunta siya sa kampo ng mga sundalo at ibinalita ito kay Pablo. 17Tinawag ni Pablo ang isa sa mga kapitan doon at sinabi, “Dalhin ninyo ang binatilyong ito sa kumander, dahil may sasabihin siya sa kanya.” 18Kaya dinala siya ng kapitan sa kumander. Pagdating nila roon, sinabi ng kapitan, “Tinawag ako ng bilanggong si Pablo, at nakiusap na dalhin ko rito sa iyo ang binatilyong ito, dahil may sasabihin daw siya sa iyo.” 19Hinawakan ng kumander ang kamay ng binatilyo, at dinala siya sa lugar na walang ibang makakarinig. At tinanong niya, “Ano ba ang sasabihin mo sa akin?” 20Sinabi ng binatilyo, “Nagkasundo ang mga Judio na hilingin sa inyo na dalhin si Pablo sa Korte bukas, dahil iimbestigahan daw nila nang mabuti. 21Pero huwag po kayong maniwala sa kanila, dahil mahigit 40 tao ang nagbabantay na tatambang sa kanya. Nanumpa sila na hindi sila kakain at iinom hanggaʼt hindi nila napapatay si Pablo. Nakahanda na sila at naghihintay na lang ng pahintulot ninyo.” 22Sinabi ng kumander sa kanya, “Huwag mong sasabihin kahit kanino na ipinaalam mo ito sa akin.” At pinauwi niya ang binatilyo.
Ipinadala si Pablo sa Cesarea
23Ipinatawag agad ng kumander ang dalawa sa kanyang mga kapitan at sinabi sa kanila, “Maghanda kayo ng 200 sundalo at ipapadala ko kayo sa Cesarea. Magdala rin kayo ng 70 sundalong nakakabayo at 200 sundalong may sibat. At lumakad kayo mamayang gabi, mga alas nuwebe. 24Maghanda rin kayo ng mga kabayo na sasakyan ni Pablo. Bantayan ninyo siyang mabuti para walang mangyari sa kanya hanggang sa makarating siya kay Gobernador Felix.” 25At sumulat ang kumander sa gobernador ng ganito:
26“Mula kay Claudius Lysias.
“Mahal at kagalang-galang na Gobernador Felix:
27“Ang taong ito na ipinadala ko sa iyo ay dinakip ng mga Judio, at papatayin na sana. Pero nang malaman kong isa pala siyang Romano, nagsama ako ng mga sundalo at iniligtas siya. 28Dinala ko siya sa kanilang Korte para malaman kung ano ang kanyang nagawang kasalanan. 29Natuklasan ko na ang akusasyon sa kanya ay tungkol lang sa mga bagay na may kinalaman sa kautusan ng kanilang relihiyon. Wala talagang sapat na dahilan para ipakulong siya o ipapatay. 30Kaya nang malaman kong may plano ang mga Judio na patayin siya, agad ko siyang ipinadala sa inyo. At sinabihan ko ang mga nag-akusa sa kanya na sa inyo na sila magreklamo.”
31Sinunod ng mga sundalo ang utos sa kanila. At nang gabing iyon, dinala nila si Pablo sa Antipatris. 32Kinabukasan, bumalik ang mga sundalo sa kampo, samantalang nagpaiwan ang mga sundalong nakakabayo para samahan si Pablo. 33Nang dumating sila sa Cesarea, iniharap nila si Pablo sa gobernador at ibinigay ang sulat. 34Binasa ito ng gobernador at pagkatapos ay tinanong si Pablo kung saang lalawigan siya nanggaling. Nang malaman niyang taga-Cilicia si Pablo, 35sinabi niya, “Pakikinggan ko ang kaso mo kapag dumating na ang mga nag-aakusa sa iyo.” At pinabantayan ng gobernador si Pablo sa palasyo na ipinagawa ni Herodes.
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.
