After the Jews seized Paul, they were going to kill him.  While they were doing this, word went up to the chief captain that all the city was in an uproar.  They were acting as a mob, and the legal authorities soon heard about it.  Their anger kept them from acting rationality, much less as we would expect the people of God, as the Jews had always been, to act.  We today can never afford to be caught up in religious or even political ferver that goes against what God teaches us.  We should always pray before we act.  The Jews may have seen themselves as God's people, but the had not sought His guidance.  When the chief captain heard what was going on, he immediately took soldiers and centurians and ran down to them.  The people then stopped beating Paul.  I do not remember anywhere in the Bible where it teaches that if someone is doing something against God that a mob is supposed to beat them to death.  Personally, I think even the act of stoning, which was stated as a punishment for some sins, should have been done with sadness and not anger.  After the chief captain took Paul, he had him bound with two chains and demeaned to know who he was and what he had done.  Paul had been told by the Holy Spirit what awaited him in Jerusalem, and now it was happening.  He had been beaten and now he was in chains.  If the Holy Spirit truely reveals to us what is going to happen in our life in the future, we can be sure that it will happen if we are obedient.  In answer to who Paul was and what he had done, the mob gave different answers, so the chief captain had him taken into the castle.  When he was on the stairs, he had to be carried by the guards due to the violence of the people, who were crying away with him.  They still wanted Paul dead without answering about who he was and what he had done.  A mob mentality really never looks for answers, only for what it wants.  If we are confronted with a situation that seems to be bringing dishonor to God, we need to prayerfully get the facts, individually and as a group, and seek God's guidance in the situation.