Acts 23:10
23:10 When the argument became
so great the commanding officer
feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,
he ordered the detachment
to go down, take him away from them by force,
and bring him into the barracks.
Acts 23:20-35
23:20 He replied,
“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council
tomorrow, as if they were going to inquire more thoroughly about him.
23:21 So do not let them persuade you to do this,
because more than forty of them
are lying in ambush
for him. They
have bound themselves with an oath
not to eat or drink anything
until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.”
23:22 Then the commanding officer
sent the young man away, directing him,
“Tell no one that you have reported
these things to me.”
23:23 Then
he summoned
two of the centurions
and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea
along with seventy horsemen
and two hundred spearmen
by
nine o’clock tonight,
23:24 and provide mounts for Paul to ride
so that he may be brought safely to Felix
the governor.”
23:25 He wrote
a letter that went like this:
23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor Felix, greetings.
23:27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, when I came up with the detachment and rescued him, because I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.
23:28 Since I wanted to know what charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down to their council.
23:29 I found he was accused with reference to controversial questions about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment.
23:30 When I was informed there would be a plot against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges against him before you.
23:31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him to Antipatris during the night.
23:32 The next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.
23:33 When the horsemen came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.
23:34 When the governor had read the letter, he asked what province he was from. When he learned that he was from Cilicia,
23:35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive too.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.