1 Paulo kalingisisa Gulukota, ngono kati, “Zwikamu zwangu, hana yangu i mbuyanana ngekwe zila yandakatjila ndiyo mbeli kwe Ndzimu kuswikila zhuba lino.” 2 Ngekwa ikoku Ntungamili we bapirisiti Ananiyasi kadwa bakabe bali mile pejo na Paulo kuti banlobe mu nlomo. 3 Ipapo Paulo kati kunli, “Ndzimu unowoloba iwe, iwe guma lakadzulugwa butjena ndiwe! Apa ugele ipapo undisumikilisa nge nlayo, koga iwe nge kuko utjuluka nlayo nge kuti ndilobgwe!”
4 Ibabo bakabe bali mile pejo na Paulo bakati, “Apa unotuka Ntungamili we bapirisiti we Ndzimu kene?”
5 Paulo kati, “Zwikamu, ndabe ndisingazibe kuti ndiye Ntungamili we bapirisiti; ngobe kwakakwagwa kuyi, ‘Usilebe bubi ngekwe nlauli we bathu ba kanyi kuko.’ ”
6 Paulo kati ebona kuti bamwe babo Basadusi koga bamwe Bafarasi kamilidzila hwi pezhugwi mu Gulukota kati, “Zwikamu, imi ndi Nfarasi, nkololo we Bafarasi. Ndosekesegwa kugalabgwe nenge kumuka kwe bafi!”
7 Kati aleba ikoku kukabe ne zhoba pakati kwe Basadusi ne Bafarasi, ngono gubungano likabe ne kuthubukana pakati. 8 Basadusi banoti akuna kumuka mu bafi ne kuti akuna batumwa be Ndzimu kene Meya, koga Bafarasi banoti zwithu zose izwezwi zwiyapo. 9 Kwakabe ne zhoba hwulu, ngono bamwe be badiyi be nlayo bakabe bali Bafarasi bakamilika, ngono bakakakabala kwazo beti, “Iswi atitobona nlandu mu nlume iwoyu. Meya kene ntumwa we kudzimu ha alebeleka nayeke?”
10 Kukakabadzana kwakabe kwakabangalala kwakati Nkulu we babhayani katja kuti banowopalula Paulo. Kadwa babhayani kuti badeluke bankombeledze banzhise mu nzi we babhayani.
11 Busiku igogo She bakama hwunde na Paulo, ngono bakati, “Ibe nge tjilopa! Sekwa wakapa butendeki nge kwangu mu Jerusalema wakafanila kunopabo butendeki ku Roma.”
Nlangano ngekwe butjilo gwa Paulo
12 Mangwanana etjimuka Bajuta bakathama nlangano ngono bakazwisunga nge kutuna kuti basije kene kuli kung'wa kudzina bebulaya Paulo. 13 Balume banopinda makumi manna (40) bakabe bali mu nlangano iwoyo. 14 Bakayenda ku bapirisiti bakulu neku bakulu, ngono bakati, “Tatuna takalonga meya kusaja tjimwe kudzina tibulaye Paulo. 15 Ndizoke ngwenu, imwi ne Gulukota, kumbilani Nkulu we babhayani kunzhisa mbeli kwenyu muti moshaka matama mamwe e malebeswa ngekwe ndebo iye. Takazwilulwamisila kumbulaya asathu kaswika ipapa.”
16 Koga kukati nzekulu wa Paulo we tjilisana ehwa ngekwe nlangano iwoyo kangina mu nzi we babhayani, ngono kabudza Paulo. 17 Ipapo Paulo kadana mmwe we balauli be babhayani bali zana kati, “Yisa mbisana iwoyu ku Nkulu we babhayani; una tjaanoshaka kumbudza.” 18 Ndizo kansa ku Nkulu we babhayani ebe eti, “Paulo we nsungwa wandidana, ngono kandikumbila kuti ndizhise mbisana iwoyu kumuli, ngobe una tjaanoshaka kumubudza.”
19 Nkulu we babhayani kabhata mbisana nge luboko, kamila naye ntome ngono kambhuzwa bali boga kati, “Ini tjaunoshaka kundibudza?”
20 Kati, “Bajuta badumana kuti bamukumbile kuzhisa Paulo mbeli kwe Gulukota mangwana beti banoshaka matama mamwe e malebeswa nge kukwe. 21 Musibadumile, ngobe balume banopinda makumi manna (40) babo bakanlalila mu zila. Batuna kuti abatowoja kene kuli kung'wa kudzina bambulaya. Bakazwilulwamisa ngwenu bamilile kuti mubadumile mu kukumbila kwabo.” 22 Nkulu we babhayani kadwa nzhuzha kati ayende, ngono kantjemela eti, “Usibudze mmwe kuti wandibudza ikoku.”
Paulo unoyisiwa ku mbusi Felikisi
23 Ipapo kadana babili be balauli be babhayani bali zana, kabadwa kati, “Lulwamisani goko le babhayani bali mazana mabili (200) ne balume bali makumi ali kutendeka (70) bakatatha mbizi ne balume bali mazana mabili (200) bakabhata mathumo, kuyenda ku Sizariya nge tjibaka tje buzhanalume busiku guno. 24 Muwanile Paulo mbizi kuti atathe, kuti ndizo anoswika zubuyanana ku mbusi Felikisi.” 25 Ngono kakwala lukwalo eti,
26 “Ndimi Kilaudiyo Lisiyasi, kuna Mbilimangenje, Mbusi Felikisi, Dumiliso. 27 Nlume iwoyu wakabhakhwa nge Bajuta, ngono bakabe bali pejo nge kumbulaya koga azha ne babhayani bangu an'gwila, ngobe ndakabe ndahwa kuti n'gali we Roma. 28 Ndakabe ndishako ziba kuti ini bempa nlandu ndizo anzhisa ku Gulukota labo. 29 Ndakawana ili kuti nlandu waanobong'wa wakalingisana nge nlayo wabo, koga kwakabe kusina nlandu wakalizana kuti afe kene alongwe mu ng'umba ye busungwa. 30 Ndakati ndabudziwa ngekwe nlangano unoyitiwa ngekwe nlume iwoyu, antumila ku muli tjinyolotjo. Kakale ndakadwa banombona nlandu kuti bamubudze nlandu uwe.”
31 Ndizo babhayani, ngolondolodza ndayo, bakayenda na Paulo busiku, ngono bakanzhisa ku Antipatirisi. 32 Tjimuka babhayani banoyenda nge makumbo bakabgwilila ku nzi we babhayani, ngono bakaletja babhayani be mbizi kuyenda naye. 33 Kukati babhayani banoyenda nge mbizi beswika mu Sizariya bakayisa lukwalo ku mbusi, na Paulo bakansa kunli. 34 Mbusi kabala lukwalo, ngono kabhuzwa kuti unodwa ku ntuthu upi. Wakati ehwa kuti unodwa ku Silisiya 35 kati, “Ndowokuhwilila ha banokubona nlandu baswika.” Ipapo kalaya kuti Paulo alisiwe ali mu ng'umba ya Herode ye bushe.
1 Paul looked straight at the council members and said, “My friends, to this day I have served God with a clear conscience!”
2 Then Ananias the high priest ordered the men standing beside Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3 Paul turned to the high priest and said, “You whitewashed wall! God will hit you. You sit there to judge me by the Law of Moses. But at the same time you order men to break the Law by hitting me.”
4 The men standing beside Paul asked, “Don't you know you are insulting God's high priest?”
5 Paul replied, “Oh! I didn't know he was the high priest. The Scriptures do tell us not to speak evil about a leader of our people.”
6 When Paul saw that some of the council members were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted, “My friends, I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. I am on trial simply because I believe that the dead will be raised to life.”
7 As soon as Paul said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees got into a big argument, and the council members started taking sides. 8 The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that the dead will rise to life. But the Pharisees believe in all of these, 9 and so there was a lot of shouting. Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees. Finally, they became angry and said, “We don't find anything wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel really did speak to him.”
10 The argument became fierce, and the commander was afraid that Paul would be pulled apart. So he ordered the soldiers to go in and rescue Paul. Then they took him back into the fortress.
11 That night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, “Don't worry! Just as you have told others about me in Jerusalem, you must also tell about me in Rome.”
A Plot To Kill Paul
12-13 The next morning more than 40 Jewish men got together and vowed that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. 14 Then some of them went to the chief priests and the nation's leaders and said, “We have promised God that we would not eat a thing until we have killed Paul. 15 You and everyone in the council must go to the commander and pretend that you want to find out more about the charges against Paul. Ask for him to be brought before your court. Meanwhile, we will be waiting to kill him before he gets there.”
16 When Paul's nephew heard about the plot, he went to the fortress and told Paul about it. 17 So Paul said to one of the army officers, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him.”
18 The officer took him to the commander and said, “The prisoner named Paul asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took the young man aside and asked him in private, “What do you want to tell me?”
20 He answered, “Some men are planning to ask you to bring Paul down to the Jewish council tomorrow. They will claim they want to find out more about him. 21 But please don't do what they say. More than 40 men are going to attack Paul. They have made a vow not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. Even now they are waiting to hear what you decide.”
22 The commander sent the young man away after saying to him, “Don't let anyone know you told me this.”
Paul Is Sent to Felix the Governor
23 The commander called in two of his officers and told them, “By nine o'clock tonight have 200 soldiers ready to go to Caesarea. Take along 70 men on horseback and 200 foot soldiers with spears. 24 Get a horse ready for Paul and make sure he gets safely through to Felix the governor.”
25 The commander wrote a letter that said:
26 Greetings from Claudius Lysias to the Honorable Governor Felix:
27 Some Jews grabbed this man and were about to kill him. But when I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I took some soldiers and rescued him.
28 I wanted to find out what they had against him. So I brought him before their council 29 and learned that the charges concern only their religious laws. This man isn't guilty of anything for which he should die or even be put in jail.
30 As soon as I learned that there was a plot against him, I sent him to you and told their leaders to bring charges against him in your court.
31 The soldiers obeyed the commander's orders, and that same night they took Paul to the city of Antipatris. 32 The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fortress and let the soldiers on horseback take him the rest of the way. 33 When they came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.
34 The governor read the letter. Then he asked Paul and found out that he was from Cilicia. 35 The governor said, “I will listen to your case as soon as the people come to bring their charges against you.” After saying this, he gave orders for Paul to be kept as a prisoner in Herod's palace.