1 Paul looked at the council members and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in a good way before God. I have always done what I thought was right.”
2 Ananias, the high priest, was there. When he heard this, he told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him in the mouth.
3 Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you too! You are like a dirty wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the Law of Moses. But you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”
4 The men standing near Paul said to him, “Are you sure you want to insult God’s high priest like that?”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. The Scriptures say, ‘You must not say bad things about a leader of your people.’”
6 Paul knew that some of the men in the council meeting were Sadducees and some were Pharisees. So he shouted, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from death.”