11. The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome also.”
12. In the morning some of the Jews made a plan to kill Paul. They made a promise that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him.
13. There were more than 40 Jews who made this plan.
14. They went and talked to the leading priests and the Jewish elders. They said, “We have made a promise to ourselves that we will not eat or drink until we have killed Paul!
15. So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander to bring Paul out to you. Tell him you want to ask Paul more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”
16. But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. He went to the army building and told Paul about it.
17. Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.”
18. So the officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander. The officer said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”
19. The commander led the young man to a place where they could be alone. The commander asked, “What do you want to tell me?”
20. The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think that they are going to ask him more questions.