1. Paul looked directly at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day.”
2. At that the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
3. Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law you order me to be struck?”
4. Those standing near him said, “Do you dare insult God’s high priest?”
5. Paul replied, “I did not realize, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”
6. Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”
7. When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.