Acts 12

¹ About that time, King Herod laid hands on some from the church to mistreat them.

² He had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword.

³ Seeing that this pleased the Jews, he decided to arrest Peter as well. It was the days of Unleavened Bread.

⁴ After arresting him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, while the church prayed earnestly to God for him.

⁶ When Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards stood watch at the prison door.

⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, woke him, and said, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell from his hands.

⁸ The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and sandals.” He did so. Then the angel said, “Put on your cloak and follow me.”

⁹ Peter went out and followed him, but he did not know that what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰ They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself. They went out and walked along one street, and at once the angel left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I truly know that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s hand and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people were gathered and praying.

¹³ When he knocked at the entrance gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴ Recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she did not open the gate. Instead, she ran inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.

¹⁵ They said to her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁶ Peter, however, kept knocking. When they opened the door, they saw him and were astonished.

¹⁷ He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers about this.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what could have happened to Peter.

¹⁹ Herod searched for him and, when he could not find him, questioned the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰ He was furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him together, and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s for its food supply.

²¹ On the appointed day, Herod, dressed in royal robes, sat on the judgment seat and addressed them.

²² The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a human being!”

²³ At once an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given glory to God. He was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ But the word of the Lord grew and multiplied.

²⁵ Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem after completing their service, bringing with them John, also called Mark.

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