Acts 23:12-35 - A Conspiracy To Kill Paul

¹² In the morning, the Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than 40 men formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the high priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we'll be ready to kill him."

¹⁶ But the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him."

¹⁸ So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."

¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, "What have you got to tell me?"

²⁰ He answered, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully. ²¹ Don't believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They've taken an oath not to eat or drink before they've killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent."

²² The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him.

²³ Then he summoned two centurions and ordered, "Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight, along with 70 mounted soldiers and 200 soldiers with spears. ²⁴ Provide a mount for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix."

²⁵ He wrote a letter with this message:

²⁶ "From: Claudius Lysias To: Governor Felix Greetings, Your Excellency:

²⁷ This man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I went with the guard and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, so I had him brought before their Council. ²⁹ I found that, although he was charged with questions about their Law, there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰ Since a plot against the man has been reported to me, I'm sending him to you at once, and I've also ordered his accusers to present their charges against him before you."

³¹ So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² The next day, they let the horsemen ride with Paul while they returned to their barracks. ³³ When these men came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers arrive." Then he ordered Paul to be kept in custody in Herod's palace.