And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.
Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.”
So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”
The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.
So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.
Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
“Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.
This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council.
And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him.
When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.
On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia,
And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul.
For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.
The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.
And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.
and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia—
Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council,
other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”
But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”
Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.
And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”
At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.
When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,
asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.
“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”
After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.
When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.
Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”
But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.
Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.
And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix,
and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.
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