﻿Acts.
Chapter 12.
About that time King Herod laid hands on some who belonged to the church to mistreat them. 
He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. 
When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 
After seizing him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover. 
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him. 
On the night before Herod was to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door kept watch over the prison. 
Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood beside him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell from his hands. 
The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 
He went out and followed him, not knowing that what was being done through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 
They passed the first guard post and the second and came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened for them by itself. They went out and proceeded along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 
When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s hand and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” 
When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered and praying. 
When he knocked at the outer gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 
She recognized Peter’s voice, and in her joy she did not open the gate but ran inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 
They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” 
But Peter kept knocking. When they opened the door, they saw him and were astonished. 
He motioned with his hand for them to be silent and told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. Then he said, “Tell James and the brothers these things.” He left and went to another place. 
At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 
After Herod searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and ordered them to be led away for execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 
Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came to him together and, after gaining the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 
On an appointed day Herod put on royal robes, sat on the judgment seat, and addressed them. 
The crowd shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 
Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 
But the word of God grew and multiplied. 
Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem after completing their service, taking with them John who was called Mark. 
