Acts 23

¹⁶In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers.

¹²For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

¹⁸Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.

⁵as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

²²When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?”

¹Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.

²⁴Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go when He departed from me to speak with you?”

¹Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

⁶⁷Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

²he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.

¹If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

²If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

⁵¹“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”

²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

⁸As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

⁹Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,

⁷There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.

¹⁶Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

²⁸You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

²⁰Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich even in your bedroom, for a bird of the air may carry your words, and a winged creature may report your speech.

⁸Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings.

⁹But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

¹⁰Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

¹⁵and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

²¹unless it was this one thing I called out as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

⁶And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,

²⁰So for this reason I have called to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.

⁴The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.

⁴⁰On hearing these words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.”

⁴¹Others declared, “This is the Christ.” But still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?

³⁴Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

⁹O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.

²⁷Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him.

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.

¹⁸Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’

¹⁷Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

²⁵But I found he had done nothing worthy of death, and since he has now appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

⁷When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.

¹⁶When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

²⁴the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

¹⁴But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

³²The next day they returned to the barracks and let the horsemen go on with him.

³You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

²or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.

¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

²⁷But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

²⁰Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the Lord.

²¹After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”

¹⁵That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.

⁹Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

²¹Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the Lord and against His Anointed One:

¹³For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

²They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

³¹Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

¹²When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹²Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord.

³Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

⁹And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

¹For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

⁹The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

⁷Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

³²Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,

³³the Lord will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned under judgment.

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

¹¹If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

¹²let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

¹¹Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.

³⁰The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

¹⁰The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the Lord.

³²The next day they returned to the barracks and let the horsemen go on with him.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

³⁷Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

³The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

⁸The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

²⁶On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

²³Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...

¹As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

¹⁷After three days, he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

⁹I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹⁴But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

¹⁵For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”

⁴“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

¹²who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

³“What is it, Queen Esther?” the king inquired. “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.”

²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

²and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”

⁵¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “Rabboni,” said the blind man, “let me see again.”

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.”

⁵Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

⁶So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!

²They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

¹Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”

¹²When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³More than forty of them were involved in this plot.

²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

¹⁹I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.

²³After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

²⁴but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.

²⁶In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,

³to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.

¹⁴“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the Lord gives us the land.”

⁴⁴“See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

⁴⁰But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

³⁸Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed.

²⁵During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.

³³When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

¹⁴Since they were staying several days, Festus laid out Paul’s case before the king: “There is a certain man whom Felix left in prison.

¹⁰When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he began his response: “Knowing that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense.

³³When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.

²²Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “When Lysias the commander comes, I will decide your case.”

²³He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.

³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

²³and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

²⁵But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.

³Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

³In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

¹⁴Instead, I hope to see you soon and speak with you face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send you greetings. Greet each of our friends there by name.

²⁵But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

²⁶On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

³¹While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.

³²Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

¹⁰The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks.

⁶and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.

³⁰The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

³¹On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.”

²⁵But I found he had done nothing worthy of death, and since he has now appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

¹⁵But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”

¹¹If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

¹⁹They only had some contentions with him regarding their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

²⁰Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

⁷When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.

⁸Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

⁶and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.

⁷

¹⁶I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.

¹⁹who ought to appear before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me.

³⁵he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s Praetorium.

²⁰He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him.

⁵So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there.”

⁶After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in.

²³Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

²⁴Provide mounts for Paul to take him safely to Governor Felix.”

³Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.

⁸For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

²³Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

¹⁰The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks.

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

⁴⁰But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

²³Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

²⁴Provide mounts for Paul to take him safely to Governor Felix.”

³⁹But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”

¹Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,

¹This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.

⁹At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

¹Now it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,

⁴⁹And at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.

³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.

¹⁶I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him.

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

²²Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “When Lysias the commander comes, I will decide your case.”

²⁴After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”