Acts 23:1-9 ▼

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?”