Acts 12 | Strong's Bible

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Chapter 1 Chapter 2

CHAPTER 12

About

that

time,

King

Herod

reached out

to inflict harm on

some

who

belonged to

the

church.

He had James,

the

brother

of John,

put to death

with the sword.

Seeing

that

this

pleased

the

Jews,

he proceeded

to seize

Peter

during

the

Feast of Unleavened Bread.

He arrested

him

and

put him

in

prison,

handing him over

to be guarded

by four

squads of four

soldiers each.

Herod intended

to bring him out

to the

people

after

the

Passover.

So

Peter

was kept

in

prison,

but

the

church

was

fervently

praying

to

God

for

him.

On

the

night

before

Herod

was

to bring him to trial,

Peter

was

sleeping

between

two

soldiers,

bound

with two

chains,

with

sentries

standing guard

at

the

entrance

to the

prison.

Suddenly

an angel

of the Lord

appeared

and

a light

shone

in

the

cell.

He tapped

Peter

on the

side

and woke him up,

saying,

“Get up

quickly.”

And

the

chains

fell

off

his

wrists.

“Get dressed

and

put on

your

sandals,”

said

the

angel.

Peter did

so,

and

the angel told

him,

“Wrap

your

cloak around you

and

follow

me.”

So

Peter followed him

out,

but

he was unaware

that

what

the

angel

was doing

was

real.

He only thought

he was seeing

a vision.

They passed

the first

and

second

guards

and came

to

the

iron

gate

leading

to

the

city,

which

opened

for them

by itself.

When

they had gone outside

and walked the length of

one

block,

the

angel

suddenly

left

him.

Then

Peter

came

to

himself

and said,

“Now

I know

for sure

that

the

Lord

has sent

His

angel

and

rescued

me

from

Herod’s

grasp

and

from everything

the

Jewish

people

were anticipating."

And when

he had realized this,

he went

to

the

house

of

Mary

the

mother

of John,

also

called

Mark,

where

many people

were

gathered together

praying.

He

knocked

at the

outer gate,

and a servant girl

named

Rhoda

came

to answer it.

When she recognized

Peter’s

voice,

she was so overjoyed

that

she forgot to open

the

gate,

but

ran inside

and announced,

“Peter

is standing

at

the

gate!”

“You are out of your mind,”

they told

her.

But when

she kept insisting

it was

so,

they said,

“It is

his

angel.”

But

Peter

kept on

knocking,

and

when they opened the door,

they saw

him

and

were amazed.

Peter motioned

with his

hand

for

silence,

and he described

how

the

Lord

had brought

him

out of

the

prison.

“Send word

to James

and

to the

brothers,”

he said,

and

he left for

another

place.

At

daybreak

there was

no

small

commotion

among

the

soldiers

as to what

had become of

Peter.

After

Herod

had searched

for him

unsuccessfully,

he examined

the

guards

and ordered that

they be executed.

Then

he went down

from

Judea

to

Caesarea

and spent some time there.

Now

Herod had become

infuriated

with the people of Tyre

and

Sidon,

and

they convened

before

him.

Having secured the support

of Blastus,

the

king’s

chamberlain,

they asked for

peace,

because

their

region

depended

on the

king’s country

for food.

On the appointed

day,

Herod

donned

his royal

robes,

sat

on

his

throne,

and addressed

the people.

And

they

began to shout,

“This is the voice

of a god,

not

a man!”

Immediately,

because

Herod did not give

glory

to God,

an angel

of the Lord

struck

him down,

and

he was

eaten by worms

and died.

But

the

word

of God

continued to spread

and

multiply.

When

Barnabas

and

Saul

had fulfilled

their

mission

to

Jerusalem,

they returned,

bringing with them

John,

also

called

Mark.

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