Acts 5:17–29

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^qthe Sadducees), and filled with ^rjealousy ¹⁸they arrested the apostles and ^sput them in the public prison. ¹⁹But during the night ^tan angel of the Lord ^uopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^vthe words of ^wthis ^xLife.” ²¹And when they heard this, ^ythey entered the temple ^zat daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴Now when ^athe captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^bare standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶Then ^cthe captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^dthey were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, ^e“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^fintend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, ^g“We must obey God rather than men.