Watch out! You will be handed over to the local courts. You will be whipped in the synagogues.

你们要防备人；因为他们要把你们交给公会，也要在会堂里鞭打你们，

你们要防备那些人，因为他们要把你们交给议会，也要在会堂里鞭打你们。

你们要防备那些人，因为他们要把你们交给议会，也要在会堂里鞭打你们。

“你们要小心谨慎，因为人们要把你们送上法庭，也要在会堂里鞭打你们。

你们要小心，因为有人要把你们送交公议会，并要在会堂里鞭打你们；

你们要提防人们，因为他们将要把你们送交议会，并且在他们的会堂里鞭打你们。

你們要防備人；因為他們要把你們交給公會，也要在會堂裏鞭打你們，

你們要防備那些人，因為他們要把你們交給議會，也要在會堂裏鞭打你們。

你們要防備那些人，因為他們要把你們交給議會，也要在會堂裏鞭打你們。

「你們要小心謹慎，因為人們要把你們送上法庭，也要在會堂裡鞭打你們。

你們要小心，因為有人要把你們送交公議會，並要在會堂裡鞭打你們；

你們要注意提防人，因為他們必把你們送交議會，必在他們的會堂裏鞭打你們；

你們要提防人們，因為他們將要把你們送交議會，並且在他們的會堂裡鞭打你們。

謹防若人、蓋將付爾於公會、鞭爾於會堂、

謹防若人、解爾於公會、鞭爾於會堂、

惟謹防於人、因將解爾於公會、鞭爾於會堂、

謹防世人、人將送爾於公會、撻爾於會堂、

Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,

But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.

Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues.

But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues;

But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you;

Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.

“ Watch out! You will be handed over to the local courts. You will be whipped in the synagogues. You will stand in front of governors and kings because of me. In that way you will be witnesses to them.

So I am sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers. You will kill some of them. You will nail some to a cross. Others you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.

But here is what I tell you. Do not be angry with a brother or sister. Anyone who is angry with them will be judged. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,‘ Raca,’ must stand trial in court. And anyone who says,‘ You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire in hell.

“ You will be brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities. But do not worry about how to stand up for yourselves or what to say.

I often went from one synagogue to another to have them punished. I tried to force them to speak evil things against Jesus. All I wanted to do was hurt them. I even went looking for them in the cities of other lands.

“ Then people will hand you over to be treated badly and killed. All nations will hate you because of me.At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies.

“‘ Lord,’ I replied,‘ these people know what I used to do. I went from one synagogue to another and put believers in prison. I also beat them.

You will be thrown out of the synagogue. In fact, the time is coming when someone may kill you. And they will think they are doing God a favor.

You too should watch out for him. He strongly opposed our message.

The guilty one might have done something that’s worthy of a beating. Then the judge will make them lie down and be beaten with a whip right there in court. The number of strokes should fit the crime.But the judge must not give the guilty person more than 40 strokes. If more than that are used, you will have disrespected your Israelite neighbor.

Don’t trust your neighbors. Don’t put your faith in your friends. Be careful what you say even to your own wife.

Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles. The people will make fun of him and whip him. They will nail him to a cross. On the third day, he will rise from the dead!”

“ But before all this, people will arrest you and treat you badly. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison. You will be brought to kings and governors. All this will happen to you because of my name.And so you will be witnesses about me.

So the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles back. But they didn’t use force. They were afraid the people would kill them by throwing stones at them.They brought the apostles to the Sanhedrin. The high priest questioned them.“ We gave you clear orders not to teach in Jesus’ name,” he said.“ But you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You want to make us guilty of this man’s death.”Peter and the other apostles replied,“ We must obey God instead of people!You had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. But the God of our people raised Jesus from the dead.Now Jesus is Prince and Savior. God has proved this by giving Jesus a place of honor with him. He did it to turn Israel away from their sins and forgive them.We are telling people about these things. And so is the Holy Spirit. God has given the Spirit to those who obey him.”When the leaders heard this, they became very angry. They wanted to put the apostles to death.But a Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up in the Sanhedrin. He was a teacher of the law. He was honored by all the people. He ordered the apostles to be taken outside for a little while.Then Gamaliel spoke to the Sanhedrin.“ Men of Israel,” he said,“ think carefully about what you plan to do to these men.Some time ago Theudas appeared. He claimed he was really somebody. About 400 people followed him. But he was killed. All his followers were scattered. So they accomplished nothing.After this, Judas from Galilee came along. This was in the days when the Romans made a list of all the people. Judas led a gang of men against the Romans. He too was killed. All his followers were scattered.So let me give you some advice. Leave these men alone! Let them go! If their plans and actions only come from people, they will fail.But if their plans come from God, you won’t be able to stop these men. You will only find yourselves fighting against God.”His speech won the leaders over. They called the apostles in and had them whipped. The leaders ordered them not to speak in Jesus’ name. Then they let the apostles go.The apostles were full of joy as they left the Sanhedrin. They considered it an honor to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.Every day they taught in the temple courtyards and from house to house. They never stopped telling people the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jews and Gentiles alike planned to treat Paul and Barnabas badly. Their leaders agreed. They planned to kill them by throwing stones at them.But Paul and Barnabas found out about the plan. They escaped to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding area.

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for something to use against Jesus. They wanted to put him to death.

“ Brothers will hand over brothers to be killed. Fathers will hand over their children. Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.“ What can we do?” they asked.“ This man is performing many signs.

Annas, the high priest, was there. So were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and other people in the high priest’s family.They had Peter and John brought to them. They wanted to question them.“ By what power did you do this?” they asked.“ And through whose name?”Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them,“ Rulers and elders of the people!Are you asking us to explain our actions today? Do you want to know why we were kind to a man who couldn’t walk? Are you asking how he was healed?Then listen to this, you and all the people of Israel! You nailed Jesus Christ of Nazareth to the cross. But God raised him from the dead. It is through Jesus’ name that this man stands healed in front of you.Scripture says that Jesus is“‘ the stone you builders did not accept. But it has become the most important stone of all.’( Psalm 118:22)You can’t be saved by believing in anyone else. God has given people no other name under heaven that will save them.”The leaders saw how bold Peter and John were. They also realized that Peter and John were ordinary men with no training. This surprised the leaders. They realized that these men had been with Jesus.The leaders could see the man who had been healed. He was standing there with them. So there was nothing they could say.They ordered Peter and John to leave the Sanhedrin. Then they talked things over.“ What can we do with these men?” they asked.“ Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed an unusual miracle. We can’t say it didn’t happen.We have to stop this thing. It must not spread any further among the people. We have to warn these men. They must never speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”Once again the leaders called in Peter and John. They commanded them not to speak or teach at all in Jesus’ name.But Peter and John replied,“ Which is right from God’s point of view? Should we listen to you? Or should we listen to God? You be the judges!There’s nothing else we can do. We have to speak about the things we’ve seen and heard.”The leaders warned them again. Then they let them go. They couldn’t decide how to punish Peter and John. They knew that all the people were praising God for what had happened.The man who had been healed by the miracle was over 40 years old.

Five times the Jews gave me 39 strokes with a whip.Three times I was beaten with sticks. Once they tried to kill me by throwing stones at me. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.I have had to keep on the move. I have been in danger from rivers. I have been in danger from robbers. I have been in danger from my fellow Jews and in danger from Gentiles. I have been in danger in the city, in the country, and at sea. I have been in danger from people who pretended they were believers.

Watch out for those dogs. They are people who do evil things. When they circumcise, it is nothing more than a useless cutting of the body.

Some were made fun of and even whipped. Some were held by chains. Some were put in prison.

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin.“ My brothers,” he said,“ I have always done my duty to God. To this day I feel that I have done nothing wrong.”Ananias the high priest heard this. So he ordered the men standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth.Then Paul said to him,“ You pretender! God will hit you! You sit there and judge me by the law. But you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to hit me!”Those who were standing near Paul spoke to him. They said,“ How dare you talk like that to God’s high priest!”Paul replied,“ Brothers, I didn’t realize he was the high priest. It is written,‘ Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ ”( Exodus 22:28)Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin.“ My brothers,” he said,“ I am a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial.”When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides.The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don’t believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly.“ We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said.“ What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”The people arguing were getting out of control. The commanding officer was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him away from them by force. The officer had told them to bring Paul into the fort.The next night the Lord stood near Paul. He said,“ Be brave! You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must do the same in Rome.”The next morning some Jews gathered secretly to make plans against Paul. They made a promise to themselves. They promised that they would not eat or drink anything until they killed him.More than 40 men took part in this plan.They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said,“ We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul.Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must make an appeal to the commanding officer. Ask him to bring Paul to you. Pretend you want more facts about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. So he went into the fort and told Paul.Then Paul called one of the commanders. He said to him,“ Take this young man to the commanding officer. He has something to tell him.”So the commander took Paul’s nephew to the officer. The commander said,“ Paul, the prisoner, sent for me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. The young man has something to tell you.”The commanding officer took the young man by the hand. He spoke to him in private.“ What do you want to tell me?” the officer asked.He said,“ Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow. They will pretend they want more facts about him.Don’t give in to them. More than 40 of them are waiting in hiding to attack him. They have promised that they will not eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now. All they need is for you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin.”The commanding officer let the young man go. But he gave him a warning.“ Don’t tell anyone you have reported this to me,” he said.

Right away the believers sent Paul to the coast. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.