Arrested in Jerusalem: Paul in the temple, before the crowd and before the council (Acts 21-23)

21After we had torn ourselves away from them, we sailed directly to Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail. ³After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ⁵But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us. ⁶And after we had said our farewells, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. ⁷When we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. ⁸Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’” ¹²When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴When he would not be dissuaded, we fell silent and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” ¹⁵After these days, we packed up and went on to Jerusalem. ¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to stay at the home of Mnason the Cypriot, an early disciple. ¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully. ¹⁸The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. ²¹But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs. ²²What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow. ²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law. ²⁵As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them. ²⁷When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil. ³²Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!” ³⁷As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the ‘Assassins’ into the wilderness?” ³⁹But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

22“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” ²When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more silent. Then Paul declared, ³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today. ⁴I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished. ⁶About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ⁸‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. ⁹My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me. ¹⁰Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’ ¹¹Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus. ¹²There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there, ¹³came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him. ¹⁴Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice. ¹⁵You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’ ¹⁷Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’ ¹⁹‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You. ²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” ²²The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!” ²³As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, ²⁴the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him. ²⁵But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?” ²⁶On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered. ²⁸“I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. ²⁹Then those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains. ³⁰The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

23Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.” ²At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.” ⁴But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!” ⁵“Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” ⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷As soon as he had said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees say that there is neither a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹A great clamor arose, and some scribes from the party of the Pharisees got up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.” ¹²When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³More than forty of them were involved in this plot. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.” ¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So the centurion took him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner sent and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” ¹⁹The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, “What do you need to tell me?” ²⁰He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him. ²¹Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.” ²²So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Do not tell anyone that you have reported this to me.” ²³Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night. ²⁴Provide mounts for Paul to take him safely to Governor Felix.” ²⁵And he wrote the following letter: ²⁶Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. ²⁷This man was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him when I came with my troops to rescue him. For I had learned that he is a Roman citizen, ²⁸and since I wanted to understand their charges against him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin. ²⁹I found that the accusation involved questions about their own law, but there was no charge worthy of death or imprisonment. ³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you. ³¹So the soldiers followed their orders and brought Paul by night to Antipatris. ³²The next day they returned to the barracks and let the horsemen go on with him. ³³When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him. ³⁴The governor read the letter and asked what province Paul was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s Praetorium.