12
“Now I Am Certain That the Lord Has Sent His Angel and Rescued Me”
1 About that same time, Herod Agrippa I, whom Rome had appointed as king over Judea and the surrounding regions,+ ordered a violent attack against+ some of those who belonged to the assembly.
2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword.
3 When he saw how pleased this made the Jewish authorities,+ he then ordered the arrest of Peter, too. (This took place during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.)
4 After having him taken into custody, Herod+ ordered him to be placed in prison, assigning four groups of soldiers, made up of four soldiers each, to take shifts guarding him,+ intending to have him brought up for public trial+ after the Passover.
5 While Peter, therefore, was being kept under guard in the prison, on his behalf the assembly was offering up to God prayer after prayer,+ earnestly and without cease.
6 Now when it was just about time for Herod+ to bring him out for trial: On that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound to one of them on each side by a chain,+ with guards keeping watch over the prison at the gate,
7 when suddenly there appeared an angel+ of the Lord, and a light shone in the cell. Tapping Peter on the side, the angel woke him up, saying, “Hurry! Get up!”+ And the chains fell from Peter’s+ wrists.
8 “Fasten ˢyour belt and put on your sandals,” the angel said to him.
“Put on ˢyour cloak and come with me,” the angel
+ said to him.
9 Going out, Peter+ then continued following along with the angel, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real, but thinking that he was seeing a vision.
10 Having passed the first guard post and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led out into the city, which opened for them all by itself. They went out and continued down a certain street,+ and suddenly the angel left him.
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the power+ of Herod and everything that was being anticipated by the Jewish authorities and their followers.+”
12 On realizing what had happened, he went to the home of Mary the mother of John (also called Mark), where many people had gathered and were praying.
13 When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl came to answer it, named Rhoda.
14 On recognizing Peter’s voice, so much joy came over her that she didn’t even open the gate, but ran back inside and announced, “Peter is standing outside at the gate!”
15 “ˢYou’ve lost your mind!” they said to her.
“It’s true! It’s true!” she kept insisting.
+
Then they said, “It’s his angel.”
16 Peter, meanwhile, continued to knock. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were stunned.
17 Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he told them the whole story of how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “ᵖTell James and the other brothers about these things,” he said. Then he left and went somewhere else.
18 When morning came, there was great panic and confusion+ among the soldiers—what was it that had happened to Peter?
19 Herod, then, ordered that a thorough search be made for Peter.+ When he couldn’t be found, Herod+ questioned the guards and had them led away to be put to death. Then he left Judea and spent some time in Caesarea.+
“An Angel of the Lord Struck Herod Down”
20 Now Herod+ was furious with the people of the Phoenician coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, and so the two cities+ joined together and sent a delegation to him.+ After winning the support of Blastus, one of the king’s most trusted high officials,+ they asked for peace, because their food supplies came from the areas that were under Herod’s control.+
21 On a day chosen ahead of time, Herod, having put on his royal clothing and sat down on the judgment seat, delivered a public address to them.
22 The crowd, then, began to shout, “It isn’t a mere man who is speaking, but a god!”+
23 Well, an angel of the Lord struck Herod+ down right there on the spot,+ because he did not give the glory to God. Becoming eaten away on his insides with worms,+ he suffered a violent and humiliating death.+
24 The word of God, meanwhile, continued to spread and gain adherents.+
25 And as for Barnabas and Saul, they returned, having delivered the gift+ to Jerusalem,+ bringing along with them+ John, who is also called Mark.