Acts 23

1 And Paul earnestlie beholdyng the counsell, saide: Men & brethren, I haue lyued in al good conscience before God vntyll this day.

2 And ye hye priest Ananias, commaunded the that stoode by, to smyte hym on the mouth.

3 Then sayde Paul vnto him: God shall smite thee thou paynted wall: For, sittest thou & iudgest me after the lawe, & comaundest me to be smitten contrary to the lawe?

4 And they that stoode by, sayde: Reuilest thou Gods hye priest?

5 Then sayde Paul: I wyst not brethren, that he was the hye priest. For it is written: Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy people.

6 But when Paul perceaued that the one part were saducees, and the other pharisees, he cryed out in the counsell: Men and brethren, I am a pharisee, the sonne of a pharisee: Of the hope & resurrection of the dead, I am iudged.

7 And when he had so sayde, there arose a debate betwene the pharisees and the saducees, & the multitude was deuided.

8 For the saducees say, that there is no resurrection, neither Angel, nor spirite: But the pharisees confesse both.

9 And there arose a great crye: and whe the scribes which were of the pharisees part arose, they stroue, saying, We fynde none euyll in this man: But yf a spirite or an Angel hath spoken to hym, let vs not striue agaynst God.

10 And when there arose a great debate, the chiefe captayne, fearyng lest Paul shoulde haue ben pluckt asunder of the, comaunded the souldiers to go downe, and to take him from among them, and to bryng hym into the castle.

11 And the nyght folowyng, the Lorde stoode by hym, and sayde: Be of good cheare Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Hierusalem, so must thou beare witnesse also at Rome.

12 And when it was day, certayne of the Iewes gathered them selues together, and made a vowe, saying that they woulde neither eate nor drynke, tyl they had kylled Paul.

13 And they were mo then fourtie men, which had made this conspiracie.

14 And they came to the chiefe priestes and elders, and sayde: We haue bounde our selues with a vowe, that we wyll eate nothyng vntyll we haue slayne Paul.

15 Nowe therfore geue ye knowledge to the vpper captayne, and to the counsell, that he bryng hym foorth vnto you to morrowe, as though ye woulde knowe somethyng more perfectly of hym: And we, or euer he come neare, are redy to kyll hym.

16 And when Paules sisters sonne heard of their laying awaite, he went & entred into the castle, and tolde Paul.

17 And Paul called one of the vnder captaynes vnto hym, and sayde: Bryng this young man vnto the hye captayne, for he hath a certayne thyng to shewe hym.

18 And he toke hym, and brought hym to the hye captayne, and sayde: Paul the prisoner called me vnto him, and prayed me to bryng this young man vnto thee, which hath a certayne matter to shewe thee.

19 Then the hye captayne toke hym by the hande, and went with hym out of the way, and asked hym: What is it that thou hast to tell me?

20 And he sayde: The Iewes are determined to desire thee, that thou wouldest bryng foorth Paul to morowe into the counsell, as though they would enquire somewhat of hym more perfectly.

21 But folowe not thou their myndes: For there lye in wayte for him, of them, mo the fourtie men, which haue bounde themselues with a vowe, that they will neither eate nor drynke, tyll they haue kylled hym. And nowe are they redy, and loke that thou shouldest promise.

22 The vpper captayne then let ye young man depart, and charged hym, see thou tell it out to no man, that thou hast shewed these thynges to me.

23 And he called vnto hym two vnder captaynes, saying: Make redy two hundred souldyers, to go to Cesarea, and horsmen threescore and ten, and spearemen two hundred, at the thirde houre of the nyght:

24 And delyuer them beastes, that they may set Paul on, and bryng hym safe vnto Felix the hye deputie.

25 And he wrote a letter, after this maner.

26 Claudius Lysias, vnto the most mightie ruler Felix, sendeth greetinges.

27 This man was taken of the Iewes, and shoulde haue ben kylled of them: Then came I with souldeirs, & rescued hym, and perceaued that he was a Romane.

28 And whe I would haue knowen the cause, wherfore they accused hym, I brought hym foorth into their counsell.

29 Whom I perceaued to be accused of questions of their lawe, but was not gyltie of any thyng worthy of death, or of bondes.

30 And when it was shewed me howe that the Iewes layde wayte for the man, I sent [hym] strayghtway to thee, and gaue commaundement to his accusers, that the thynges which they haue agaynst hym, they shoulde tell before thee. Fare well.

31 Then the souldyers, as it was commaunded them, toke Paul, and brought hym by nyght to Antipatris.

32 On the morowe, they left the horsmen to go with hym, and returned vnto the castle.

33 Which when they came to Cesarea, and delyuered the epistle to the deputie, presented Paul also before hym.

34 And when the deputie had read [the letter] he asked of what coutrey he was. And when he vnderstoode that he was of Celicia,

35 I wyll heare thee, sayde he, when thyne accusars are come also. And he comaunded hym to be kept in Herodes iudgement hall.