Acts 12

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.