Acts 12–13

Herod’s Violence to the Church

12Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ²Then he killed James ^athe brother of John with the sword. ³And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during ^bthe Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴So ^cwhen he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four ¹squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter Freed from Prison

⁵Peter was therefore kept in prison, but ²constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ³keeping the prison. ⁷Now behold, ^dan angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹So he went out and followed him, and ^edid not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought ^fhe was seeing a vision. ¹⁰When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, ^gwhich opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that ^hthe Lord has sent His angel, and ⁱhas delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

¹²So, when he had considered this, ^jhe came to the house of Mary, the mother of ^kJohn whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together ^lpraying. ¹³And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ^m“It is his angel.”

¹⁶Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷But ⁿmotioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small ⁴stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.

And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

Herod’s Violent Death

²⁰Now Herod had been very angry with the people of ^oTyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus ⁵the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because ^ptheir country was ⁶supplied with food by the king’s country.

²¹So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. ²²And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³Then immediately an angel of the Lord ^qstruck him, because ^rhe did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and ⁷died.

²⁴But ^sthe word of God grew and multiplied.

Barnabas and Saul Appointed

²⁵And ^tBarnabas and Saul returned ⁸from Jerusalem when they had ^ufulfilled their ministry, and they also ^vtook with them ^wJohn whose surname was Mark.

13Now ^ain the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: ^bBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^cLucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^d“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^eto which I have called them.” ³Then, ^fhaving fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Preaching in Cyprus

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^gCyprus. ⁵And when they arrived in Salamis, ^hthey preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had ⁱJohn as their assistant.

⁶Now when they had gone through ¹the island to Paphos, they found ^ja certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But ^kElymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) ²withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who also is called Paul, ^lfilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, ^myou son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹And now, indeed, ⁿthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”

And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

At Antioch in Pisidia

¹³Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and ^oJohn, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and ^pwent into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵And ^qafter the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have ^rany word of ³exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^syou who fear God, listen: ¹⁷The God of this people ⁴Israel ^tchose our fathers, and exalted the people ^uwhen they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with ⁵an uplifted arm He ^vbrought them out of it. ¹⁸Now ^wfor a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹And when He had destroyed ^xseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^yHe distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰“After that ^zHe gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, ^auntil Samuel the prophet. ^21bAnd afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^cSaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And ^dwhen He had removed him, ^eHe raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ^f‘I have found David the son of Jesse, ^ga man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ^23hFrom this man’s seed, according ⁱto the promise, God raised up for Israel ^ja ⁶Savior—Jesus—^24kafter John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^l‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^mthere comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶“Men and brethren, sons of the ⁷family of Abraham, and ⁿthose among you who fear God, ^oto you the ⁸word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^pbecause they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28qAnd though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29rNow when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^sthey took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30tBut God raised Him from the dead. ^31uHe was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³²And we declare to you glad tidings—^vthat promise which was made to the fathers. ³³God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

^w‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.’

³⁴And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ⁹corruption, He has spoken thus:

^x‘I will give you the sure ¹mercies of David.’

³⁵Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

^y‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

³⁶“For David, after he had served ²his own generation by the will of God, ^zfell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ³saw corruption; ³⁷but He whom God raised up ⁴saw no corruption. ³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^athrough this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹and ^bby Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹‘Behold, ^cyou despisers,

Marvel and perish!

For I work a work in your days,

A work which you will by no means believe,

Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

⁴²⁵So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^dpersuaded them to continue in ^ethe grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^fopposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^g“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^hsince you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ⁱwe turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us:

^j‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,

That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the…