Paul Is Arrested

Title Options:Paul becomes a prisoner.God protects Paul when angry men try to kill him.

While in Jerusalem, Paul was performing [doing] a purity ritual [rite / ceremony]. So, Paul went to the temple, where some Jewish men recognized [saw] who he was.

Those men seized [grabbed] Paul and began shouting, “This man [Paul] teaches people to disobey [violate] our customs [laws]! He has even defiled [made unclean] our temple by leading [bringing] men here who are Gentiles!”

Angry men in the temple surrounded Paul. Then they seized Paul and dragged him outside the temple, and temple officials shut the temple gates. Those angry men [the crowd] wanted to kill Paul, so they began beating him.

Someone ran and told some [Roman] soldiers, “Come quickly! There is trouble at the temple!” The soldiers came quickly, and their officer arrested Paul and bound [tied] him with two chains.

The officer [soldier boss] asked the crowd, “What has this man done?” Several men shouted different things, so the officer ordered the soldiers, “Lead this man to our station [barracks / jail]!” Angry men kept shouting, “Take him away from here!”

Paul asked the officer [in Greek language], “May I speak to the people [the crowd]?” He replied, “Yes!” So Paul turned [himself], looked at the crowd [many people] and motioned [signaled] for them to be quiet.

Paul began speaking to the crowd in their own language [Aramaic / Hebrew], saying, “My brothers [relatives], please listen to me! You know that [how] I used to kill Christians. But Jesus appeared [showed himself] to me, when I was going to Damascus [another town]!

“Jesus ordered me to go talk about him with Gentiles!” When the crowd heard this, they began shouting again, “Take him away from here! Kill him!”

So, the soldiers led Paul to their station [barracks]. Their officer ordered them, “Beat this man until he tells you what he has done that made the people so angry!”

As the soldiers tore Paul’s coat from his body, to beat him, Paul shouted, “Wait! I belong to [I am a citizen of] Rome [Nation / Empire]. So it is not legal [permitted] for you to beat me, because a judge has not found [declared] me to be guilty!”

So the officer went to his commander and said, “This man belongs to [is a citizen of] Rome! What shall we do?”

So the commander went and asked Paul, “Do you belong to [Are you a citizen of] Rome?” Paul replied, “Yes! I was born belonging to [a citizen of] Rome!

Next day, the commander led [brought] Paul to stand before [in front of] the Jewish elder council.

Paul said to the council, “I am a prisoner [on trial] here today, because I hope [believe / expect] that dead people will, someday, rise [return] from death [back] to life!”

Some of the council members believed [agreed] that dead people will, one day, rise to life, but other council members did not believe this.

Some council members said, “This man has done nothing wrong! Maybe an angel or a spirit has spoken to him!”

Other council members said, “No!” Then the council members began quarreling, and some members tried to harm Paul. So, the commander ordered his soldiers, “Lead Paul back to our station [barracks]!”

That same night, the Lord Jesus spoke to Paul, saying, “Do not be afraid! You have spoken to people about me here in Jerusalem, and you will also speak to people about me in Rome!”

Next day, more than forty men plotted [secretly] to kill Paul. They also took an oath not to eat and not to drink, until Paul was dead.

The men said to the elders’ council, “Please ask the commander to lead Paul to you again, so you can interrogate [question] him! We shall wait beside the road and shall kill Paul before he can come here!”

Someone heard about their plot [plan] and told it to Paul’s sister, who told it to her son, who went and told it to Paul and the Roman officer.

So the officer ordered four hundred soldiers, “Lead Paul safely, during the night, to the governor in Caesarea!” The commander also wrote a letter for the governor, explaining all that had happened.