Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

     1     Now about that time ¹Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.

     2     And he ^ahad James the brother of John ^bput to death with a sword.

     3     When he saw that it ^apleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ¹it was during ^bthe days of Unleavened Bread.

     4     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.

     5     So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

     6     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.

     7     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.

     8     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.”

     9     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.

     10     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.

     11     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.”

     12     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.

     13     When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^aa servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.

     14     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.

     15     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.”

     16     But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

     17     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.

     18     Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to ¹what could have become of Peter.

     19     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.

Death of Herod

     20     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.

     21     On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the ¹rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

     22     The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

     23     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.

     24     But ^athe word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

     25     And ^aBarnabas and ^aSaul returned ¹from Jerusalem ^bwhen they had fulfilled their ²mission, taking along with them ^cJohn, who was also called Mark.