Now about
that time
1Herod
the king
laid
hands
on some
who
belonged
to the church
in order to mistreat
them.
And he ahad James the brother
of John
bput
to death
with a sword
.
When he saw that it apleased
the Jews
, he proceeded
to arrest
Peter
also
. Now
1it was during bthe days
of Unleavened
Bread.
When he had seized him, he put
him in prison
, delivering
him to four
1 asquads
of soldiers
to guard
him, intending
after
bthe Passover
to bring
him out before the people
.
So Peter
was kept
in the prison
, but prayer
for him was being
made
fervently
by the church
to God
.
On 1the very night
when
Herod
was about
to bring
him forward
, Peter
was sleeping
between
two
soldiers
, abound
with two
chains
, and guards
in front
of the door
were watching
over
the prison
.
And behold, aan angel
of the Lord
suddenly bappeared
and a light
shone
in the cell
; and he struck
Peter's
side
and woke
him up, saying
, "Get
up quickly
." And chis chains
fell
off
his hands
.
And the angel said
to him, "Gird
yourself and 1put
on your sandals
." And he did
so
. And he *said
to him, "Wrap
your cloak
around
you and follow
me."
And he went out and continued to follow
, and he did not know
that what was being
done
by the angel
was real
, but thought
he was seeing
aa vision
.
When they had passed the first
and second
guard
, they came
to the iron
gate
that leads
into the city
, which
aopened
for them by itself
; and they went
out and went
along
one
street
, and immediately
the angel
departed
from him.
When Peter acame
1to himself
, he said
, "Now
I know
for sure
that bthe Lord
has sent
forth
His angel
and rescued
me from the hand
of Herod
and from all
2that the Jewish
people
were expecting
."
And when he realized this, he went
to the house
of Mary
, the mother
of aJohn
who was also called
Mark
, where
many
were gathered
together
and bwere praying
.
When he knocked at the door
of the gate
, aa servant-girl
named
Rhoda
came
to answer
.
When she recognized Peter's
voice
, abecause
of her joy
she did not open
the gate
, but ran
in and announced
that Peter
was standing
in front
of the gate
.
They said to her, "You are out of your mind
!" But she kept insisting
that it was so
. They kept saying
, "It is ahis angel
."
But Peter continued
knocking
; and when they had opened
the door, they saw
him and were amazed
.
But amotioning to them with his hand
to be silent
, he described
to them how
the Lord
had led
him out of the prison
. And he said
, "Report
these
things
to 1 bJames
and cthe brethren
." Then
he left
and went
to another
place
.
Now when day
came
, there was no
small
disturbance
among
the soldiers
as to 1what
could have become
of Peter
.
When Herod had searched
for him and had not found
him, he examined
the guards
and ordered
that they abe led
away
to execution. Then
he went
down
from Judea
to bCaesarea
and was spending
time
there.
Now he was very
angry
with the people of aTyre
and Sidon
; and with one
accord
they came
to him, and having won
over
Blastus
the king's
chamberlain
, they were asking
for peace
, because
btheir country
was fed
by the king's
country.
On an appointed day
Herod
, having put
on his royal
apparel
, took
his seat
on the 1rostrum
and began delivering
an address
to them.
The people kept crying
out, "The voice
of a god
and not of a man
!"
And immediately aan angel
of the Lord
struck
him because
he did not give
God
the glory
, and he was eaten
by worms
and 1died
.
But athe word of the Lord
continued to grow
and to be multiplied
.
And aBarnabas and aSaul
returned
1from Jerusalem
bwhen they had fulfilled
their 2mission
, taking
along
with them cJohn
, who was also called
Mark
.