Paul looked straight at the
Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to
God in all good conscience to this day." At this the high
priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the
mouth. Then
Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!
You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself
violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to
insult God's high priest?"
Paul
replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high
priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of
your people.'"
Then Paul, knowing
that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called
out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of
a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection
of the dead." When
he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that
there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor
spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
There was a great
uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood
up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this
man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken
to him?" The dispute became so violent that the commander was
afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops
to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into
the barracks.
Paul Encouraged
The following night the
Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have
testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in
Rome."
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