Lockman - Bible questions and answers

		Acts 23:1 Then Paul, looking intently at the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), said, "Kinsmen, I have lived my life before God with a perfectly good conscience until this very day."
		Acts 23:2 [At this] the high priest Ananias ordered those who stood beside him to strike Paul on the mouth.
		Acts 23:3 Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you actually sit to judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"
		Acts 23:4 But those who stood near Paul said, "Are you insulting the high priest of God?"
		Acts 23:5 Paul said, "I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.'" [Ex 22:28]
		Acts 23:6 ¶ But recognizing that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began affirming loudly in the Council chamber, "Kinsmen, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!"
		Acts 23:7 When he said this, an angry dispute erupted between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the [whole crowded] assembly was divided [into two factions].
		Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no [such thing as a] resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees [speak out freely and] acknowledge [their belief in] them all.
		Acts 23:9 Then a great uproar occurred, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and began to argue heatedly [in Paul's favor], saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has [really] spoken to him?"
		Acts 23:10 And as the dissension became even greater, the commander, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered the troops to go down and forcibly take him from them, and bring him to the barracks.
		Acts 23:11 ¶ On the following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Be brave; for as you have solemnly and faithfully witnessed about Me at Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome."
		Acts 23:12 ¶ Now when day came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath (curse), saying that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
		Acts 23:13 There were more than forty [men] who formed this plot [and swore this oath].
		Acts 23:14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath not to taste anything [neither food nor drink] until we have killed Paul.
		Acts 23:15 "So now you, along with the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), notify the commander to bring Paul down to you, as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But we are ready to kill him before he comes near [the place]."
		Acts 23:16 ¶ But the son of Paul's sister heard of their [planned] ambush, and he went to the barracks and told Paul.
		Acts 23:17 Then Paul, calling in one of the centurions, said, "Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him."
		Acts 23:18 So he took him and led him to the commander and said, "Paul the prisoner called for me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."
		Acts 23:19 The commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to ask him privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?"
		Acts 23:20 And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) tomorrow, as if they were going to interrogate him more thoroughly.
		Acts 23:21 "But do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Even now they are ready, just waiting for your promise."
		Acts 23:22 So the commander let the young man leave, instructing him, "Do not tell anyone that you have given me this information."
		Acts 23:23 Then summoning two of the centurions, he said, "Have two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night (9:00 p.m.) to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen;
		Acts 23:24 also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him safely to Felix the governor."
		Acts 23:25 And [after instructing the centurions] he wrote a letter to this effect:
		Acts 23:26 ¶ "Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings.
		Acts 23:27 ¶ "This man was seized [as a prisoner] by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon him with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
		Acts 23:28 "And wanting to know the exact charge which they were making against him, I brought him down to their Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court);
		Acts 23:29 and I discovered that he was accused in regard to questions and issues in their Law, but [he was] under no accusation that would call for the penalty of death or [even] for imprisonment.
		Acts 23:30 ¶ "When I was told that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, also directing his accusers to bring their charges against him before you."
		Acts 23:31 ¶ So the soldiers, in compliance with their orders, took Paul and brought him to Antipatris during the night.
		Acts 23:32 And the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks.
		Acts 23:33 When these [horsemen] reached Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor, and also presented Paul to him.
		Acts 23:34 After reading the letter, he asked which province Paul was from, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia [an imperial province],
		Acts 23:35 he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers have arrived," giving orders that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's Praetorium (the governor's official residence).

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