Acts 23:11-22 - The Plot Against Paul

¹¹ And the night following, the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good courage; for as thou hast borne witness concerning me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

¹² And when it was day, the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³ And there were more than forty who took this oath together. ¹⁴ And they came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore do ye with the council give notice to the chief captain, that he bring him down to you, as though ye were about to examine his case more thoroughly; and we are ready to kill him before he cometh near you.

¹⁶ But Pauls sisters son hearing of the plot went, and entering the castle, told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions to him, and said, Take this young man to the chief captain; for he hath something to tell him.

¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him, and asked me to bring this young man to thee, as he hath something to say to thee.

¹⁹ Then the chief captain took him by the hand and went aside privately, and asked him, What is it that thou hast to tell me?

²⁰ And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask thee to bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though thou wert about to inquire more thoroughly concerning him. ²¹ But do not thou yield to them; for there lie in wait for him more than forty men of them, who have bound themselves with an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him; and they are now ready, looking for the promise from thee.

²² The chief captain then dismissed the young man with the charge, Tell no one that thou hast disclosed these things to me.