²² Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father.

²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and ^(A)cover up his blood? ^27 (B)Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.

³⁴ But a Pharisee named ^(A)Gamaliel, a ^(B)teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in ^(C)the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For, some time ago Theudas appeared, ^(D)claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. ^[a]But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of ^(E)the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or ^[b]movement ^(F)is men, it will be overthrown; ³⁹ but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found ^(G)fighting against God.”