Acts 25:3

²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,

¹²When it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty people who had made this conspiracy. ¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

²Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil; ³who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words, ⁴to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly. ⁵They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” ⁶They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.

⁹“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. ¹¹Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

³They will do these things^[+] because they have not known the Father nor me.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? ²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”

²¹Saul said, “You are blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me.

²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

⁸Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him. ⁹He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and behold, having examined him before you, I found no basis for a charge against this man concerning those things of which you accuse him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for I sent you to him, and see, nothing worthy of death has been done by him. ¹⁶I will therefore chastise him and release him.”

¹⁷Now he had to release one prisoner to them at the feast.^18[+] But they all cried out together, saying, “Away with this man! Release to us Barabbas!”— ¹⁹one who was thrown into prison for a certain revolt in the city, and for murder.

²⁰Then Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus, ²¹but they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

²²He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no capital crime in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.” ²³But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed. ²⁴Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done.

¹⁸Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.”

³²The wicked watch the righteous, and seek to kill him. ³³The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.