5. Paul answered, “Brothers, I did not realize he was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not curse a ruler of your people.’”
6. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees, so he called out before the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; [I] am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”
7. When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided.
8. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.
9. A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
10. The dispute was so serious that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him into the compound.
11. The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”
12. When day came, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
13. There were more than forty who formed this conspiracy.
14. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.
15. You, together with the Sanhedrin, must now make an official request to the commander to have him bring him down to you, as though you meant to investigate his case more thoroughly. We on our part are prepared to kill him before he arrives.”
16. The son of Paul’s sister, however, heard about the ambush; so he went and entered the compound and reported it to Paul.