Acts 12

12 ¹About that time King Herod attacked some who belonged to the church, intending to harm them. ²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³Seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴He arrested him, put him in prison, and handed him to four squads of four soldiers to guard, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

⁵Peter was kept in prison, but the church prayed fervently to our Father for him. ⁶That night, before Herod could bring him out, Peter slept between two soldiers, bound with two chains; guards before the door kept watch over the prison. ⁷Suddenly an angel of our Father stood beside him, and light filled the cell. He struck Peter's side, woke him, and said, "Get up quickly." The chains fell from his hands. ⁸The angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." Peter complied. Then he said, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." ⁹So Peter went out and followed, not knowing the angel's actions were real — he thought he saw a vision. ¹⁰Passing the first and second guard posts, they reached the iron gate to the city, which opened for them on its own. They went out, walked one street, and the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know for certain: our Father sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's hand and from everything the Jewish people expected." ¹²Aware of this, he went to Mary's house, mother of John also called Mark, where many were gathered praying. ¹³When Peter knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴Recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran in without opening the gate, announcing Peter stood there.

¹⁵"You're out of your mind," they said. But she insisted it was true. So they said, "It's his angel." ¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷Signaling with his hand for quiet, he explained how our Father had led him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers and sisters this," he said, then left for another place.

¹⁸When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹Herod, after searching for him and not finding him, questioned the guards and ordered them executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Our Father Strikes Down Herod

²⁰Herod was enraged at Tyre and Sidon. Together they came to him, and having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they requested peace, since their land depended on the king's land for food. ²¹On the set day Herod dressed in royal robes, sat on the throne, and made a speech to them. ²²And the crowd kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!" ²³Instantly an angel of our Father struck him down for not giving our Father the glory, and worms ate him and he died.

²⁴But the word of our Father continued to grow and spread. ²⁵Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having finished their mission, taking with them John, also called Mark.