Acts
Chapter 12
1 At that time, King Herod started to bother some people from the church.
2 He killed James, John’s brother, with a sword.
3 Seeing that it made the Jews happy, he decided to arrest Peter too. (It was the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)
4 After arresting him, he put him in jail and handed him over to four groups of four soldiers to guard him, planning to present him to the people after Passover.
5 Peter was kept in jail, but the church constantly prayed to God for him.
6 When Herod planned to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, tied with two chains, and guards by the door were watching the jail.
7 An angel from God came to him, and a light shone in the jail. The angel hit Peter on the side and lifted him up, saying, “Get up fast.” And his chains fell off his hands.
8 The angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” He did that. Then the angel said, “Put on your coat and follow me.”
9 He went out and followed, not knowing the angel had really done this; he thought he was seeing a vision.
10 After they passed the first and second guard posts, they reached the iron gate leading to the city; it opened by itself for them. They went out, walked down one street, and right away the angel left him.
11 When Peter realized what happened, he said, “Now I’m certain that God has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s control and from what the Jewish people expected.”
12 After thinking about it, he went to Mary’s house, the mother of John also called Mark, where many people were meeting and praying.
13 While Peter knocked at the gate door, a young woman named Rhoda came to listen.
14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she didn’t open the gate because she was so happy, but she ran inside and told everyone that Peter was at the gate.
15 They told her, “You’re crazy.” But she kept saying it was true. So they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 Peter kept knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
17 But he, signaling to them with his hand to be quiet, told them how God had helped him escape from jail. He said, “Go tell these things to James and the others.” Then he left and went to a different place.
18 As soon as it was morning, the soldiers were very upset about what had happened to Peter.
19 When Herod couldn’t find him, he questioned the guards and ordered them to be killed. Then he left Judea, went to Caesarea, and stayed there.
20 Herod was very unhappy with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they joined together and went to him, and after winning over Blastus, the king’s servant, they asked for peace because their land depended on the king’s land for food.
21 On a certain day, Herod, dressed in his royal clothes, sat on his throne and spoke to the people.
22 The people shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not a human.”
23 Right away, God’s angel struck him down because he didn’t honor God: so worms ate him, and he died.
24 God’s word spread and increased widely.
25 Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem after completing their work and brought John Mark with them.