Acts 12–13

James Martyred and Peter Jailed

12About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church, ²and he killed James, ^hJohn’s brother, with the sword. ³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁱ⁴After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.

Peter Rescued

⁶On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. ⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord ^jappeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” Then the chains fell off his wrists. ^k8“Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did so. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” ⁹So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ^l10After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him. ^m

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.” ⁿ¹²When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, ^opwhere many had assembled and were praying. ¹³He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway.

¹⁵“You’re crazy!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It’s his angel!” ^q16Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.

¹⁷Motioning to them with his hand ^rto be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Report these things to James ^stand the brothers,” he said. Then he departed and went to a different place.

¹⁸At daylight, there was a great commotion ^uamong the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. ^v

Herod’s Death

²⁰He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. ^wTogether they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country. ^x21So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them. ²²The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³At once an angel of the Lord ^ystruck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died. ^z24Then God’s message flourished and multiplied. ^a25After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to ^bJerusalem, taking along John who is called Mark. ^c

Preparing for the Mission Field

13In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, ^dand Saul.

²As they were ministering to ^ethe Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.” ^f3Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. ^g

The Mission to Cyprus

⁴Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant. ^h6When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁱ⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God’s message. ^j8But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed ^kthem and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ^l

⁹Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer ¹⁰and said, “You son of the Devil, ^mfull of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths ⁿof the Lord? ¹¹Now, look! The Lord’s hand is against you. ^oYou are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. ^p

Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia

¹³Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem. ^q14They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. ^r15After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.” ^s

¹⁶Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen! ^t17The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty ^uarm. ^v18And for about 40 years He put up with them ^win the wilderness; ^x19then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^yHe gave their land to them as an inheritance. ²⁰This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ^z21Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. ^a22After removing him, ^bHe raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me, ^cdwho will carry out all My will.’

²³“From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, ^eto Israel. ^f24Before He came to public attention, ^gJohn had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ^h25Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’ ⁱ

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. ^j27For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words ^kby condemning Him. ^l28Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed. ^m29When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb. ⁿ³⁰But God raised Him from the dead, ^o31and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people. ^p32And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. ^q33God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:

You are My Son;

today I have become Your Father. ^rst

³⁴Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings ^umade to David. ^vw35Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay. ^xy36For David, after serving his own generation in God’s plan, fell asleep, ^zwas buried with his fathers, and decayed. ^a37But the One God raised up did not decay. ³⁸Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, ^b39and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. ^c40So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

⁴¹Look, you scoffers,

marvel and vanish away,

because I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will never believe,

even if someone were to explain it to you.” ^de

Paul and Barnabas in Antioch

⁴²As they ^fwere leaving, the people ^gbegged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath. ⁴³After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God. ^h

⁴⁴The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord. ⁱ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him. ^j

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles! ^k47For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you

a light for the Gentiles

to bring salvation

to the ends ^lof the earth.” ^mn

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled…