ActsChapter 12

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¹About that time, King Herod began to hurt some people who belonged to the church. ²He had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. ³Herod saw that this pleased the Jews. So he went on to arrest Peter too. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ⁴After he arrested Peter, he put him in prison. He handed him over to four groups of soldiers to guard him. Each group had four soldiers. Herod planned to bring Peter out to the people after the Passover. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison. But the church kept praying hard to God for him. ⁶It was the night before Herod planned to put Peter on trial. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was tied up with two chains. Guards stood at the prison door. ⁷All at once an angel of the Lord appeared. A light shone in the cell. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him up. "Get up quickly," he said. And the chains fell off Peter's wrists. ⁸The angel said, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." Peter did. Then the angel told him, "Wrap your coat around you and follow me." ⁹So Peter followed him out. But he didn't know that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰They walked past the first and second guards. They came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened for them by itself. They went outside and walked down one street. Then all at once the angel left him. ¹¹Then Peter woke up to what was happening. He said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel. He rescued me from Herod's power. He saved me from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen to me." ¹²When Peter understood this, he went to the house of Mary. She was the mother of John, who was also called Mark. Many people had gathered there and were praying. ¹³Peter knocked at the outside gate. A servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴She knew Peter's voice. She was so happy that she forgot to open the gate. Instead, she ran inside and said, "Peter is standing at the gate!" ¹⁵"You're out of your mind," they told her. But she kept saying it was true. So they said, "It must be his angel." ¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. ¹⁷Peter waved his hand for them to be quiet. He told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell James and the other believers about this," he said. Then he left for another place. ¹⁸In the morning the soldiers were very upset. They wondered what had happened to Peter. ¹⁹Herod had a search made for Peter, but they didn't find him. So Herod questioned the guards. He ordered that they be put to death. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there for a while. ²⁰Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came together to see him. They got Blastus to take their side. He was a trusted servant of the king. Then they asked for peace. They did this because their land got its food from the king's country. ²¹On the chosen day, Herod put on his royal robes. He sat on his throne and gave a speech to the people. ²²The people began to shout, "This is the voice of a god, not a man!" ²³Herod did not give glory to God. So right away an angel of the Lord struck him down. He was eaten by worms and died. ²⁴But the word of God kept spreading and growing. ²⁵Barnabas and Saul finished their work in Jerusalem. Then they went back, and they took John with them. He was also called Mark.