But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while.

But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The gentiles must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses."

When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I'm a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I'm on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected."

After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided,

because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.

There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.