THE
BOOK OF ACTS
Acts
Chapter 12
1
¶ Now about that time Herod the king extended his
grip to persecute and afflict some who belonged to the church.
2
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3
And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter as well. (This
was during feast of unleavened bread.)
4
And after he had arrested him, he put him in prison, delivering him
to four groups of four soldiers each to guard him; intending to bring
him out before the people after Passover.
5
¶ So Peter was kept in prison: but the church continually prayed to God for
him.
6
And the night before Herod was going to bring him out,
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the guards
outside the door kept watch over the prison.
7
And, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison:
and the angel struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, Get up
quickly. And the chains fell off his hands.
8
And the angel said to him, Get dressed, and put on your sandals. And he did so.
And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you, and follow me.
9
And Peter went out following him; and was not aware that what the angel was
doing was actually happening; but thought he was seeing a vision.
10
When they had passed the first guards and the second, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city; which opened for them by
itself: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and the angel
suddenly left him.
11
And when Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know
for sure, that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me from the hand
of Herod, and from all that the Jewish people expected.
12
And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of
John, who was called Mark; where many were gathered together praying.
13
And as Peter knocked at the door of the passage, a girl named Rhoda came to
answer.
14
And when she recognized Peter’s voice, she did not open the door because of her
joy, but ran back in, and told everyone that Peter was standing
outside the door.
15
But they said to her, You are out of your mind. Yet
she insisted that it was so. So they said, It must be
his angel.
16
But Peter continued knocking: and when they opened the door, and saw
him, they were astonished.
17
But motioning with his hand for them to be silent, he explained to them how the
Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, Go
tell these things to James, and to the brethren. Then he left, and went to
another place.
18
Now as soon as it was light, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers,
as to what had become of Peter.
19
However after Herod had searched for him, without finding him,
he examined the guards, and ordered that they should be put to death.
Then he went down from
20
¶ Now Herod was angry with the people of
21
And on the appointed day Herod, dressed in royal robes, sat on his throne, and
made a speech to them.
22
And the people shouted, It is the voice of a
god, and not of a man.
23
And the Lord’s angel immediately struck him, because he did not give God the
glory: and he was eaten by worms, and died.
24
But the word of God continued to grow and multiply.
25
And Barnabas and Saul returned from