1. Then Paul, gazing intently at the council, said, "Noble brothers, I have spoken with all good conscience before God, even to this present day."
2. And the high priest, Ananias, instructed those who were standing nearby to strike him on the mouth.
3. Then Paul said to him: "God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall! For would you sit and judge me according to the law, when, contrary to the law, you order me to be struck?"
4. And those who were standing nearby said, "Are you speaking evil about the high priest of God?"
5. And Paul said: "I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. For it is written: 'You shall not speak evil of the leader of your people.' "
6. Now Paul, knowing that one group were Sadducees and the other were Pharisees, exclaimed in the council: "Noble brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees! It is over the hope and resurrection of the dead that I am being judged."
7. And when he had said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the multitude was divided.
8. For the Sadducees claim that there is no resurrection, and neither angels, nor spirits. But the Pharisees confess both of these.
9. Then there occurred a great clamor. And some of the Pharisees, rising up, were fighting, saying: "We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?"
10. And since a great dissension had been made, the tribune, fearing that Paul might be torn apart by them, ordered the soldiers to descend and to seize him from their midst, and to bring him into the fortress.
11. Then, on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said: "Be constant. For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so also it is necessary for you to testify at Rome."
12. And when daylight arrived, some of the Jews gathered together and bound themselves with an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.