Acts 12

Lamsa^{(i) 1} NOW at that very time Herod the king surnamed A-gripÆpa seized some of the people of the church to oppress them. ² And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. ³ And when he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Simon Peter also. This happened during the days of unleavened bread. ⁴ So he seized him and put him in prison and delivered him to the care of sixteen soldiers to keep him, so that he might deliver him to the Jewish people after the passover. ⁵ And while Simon Peter was kept in the prison, continual prayer was offered for him to God by the church. ⁶ And on the very night before the morning that he was to be delivered up, while Simon Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and others were guarding the doors of the prison, ⁷ The angel of the LORD stood over him, and a light shone in all the prison: and the angel touched him on the side and awoke him, and said to him, Rise up quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, Bind on your girdle and put on your sandals. And so he did. And again he said to him, Put on your robe and follow me. ⁹ And he went out, and followed the angel, not knowing that what was done by the angel was true, but thought he saw a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate and it opened to them of its own accord; and when they had gone out, and had passed one street, the angel departed from him. ¹¹ And when Simon Peter came to himself he said, Now I surely know, that the LORD has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod, the king, and from all that the Jews were conspiring against me. ¹² And when he understood, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; because many brethren were gathered there praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the courtyard, a little girl named Rhoda came out to answer. ¹⁴ And when she recognized SimonÆs voice, because of her joy she did not open the door to him, but ran back and told, Behold Simon Peter stands at the gate of the courtyard. ¹⁵ They said to her, You are confused. But she argued that it was so. Then said they, Perhaps it is his angel. ¹⁶ But Simon Peter continued knocking at the door; and they went out, and saw him, and were astonished. ¹⁷ But he motioned to them with his hand to keep quiet; then he entered and related to them how the LORD had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Tell these things to James, and to our brethren. And he went out, and departed for another place. ¹⁸ Now when it was morning, there was great tumult among the soldiers as to what had become of Simon Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had sought him and could not find him, he sentenced the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And Simon Peter left Ju-dµÆa and stayed at Cµs-a-reÆa. ²⁰ Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they assembled together and came to him, and they appealed to BlasÆtus, the kingÆs chamberlain, and asked him that they might have peace, because their country was dependent upon the kingdom of Herod for food supplies. ²¹ Upon the set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon the throne and addressed the assembly. ²² And all the people shouted, saying, This sounds like the voice of God speaking and not that of a man. ²³ And because he did not give the glory to God, in that very hour an angel of the LORD smote him, and he was eaten by disease and died. ²⁴ But the gospel of God continued to be preached and to reach many. ²⁵ BarÆna-bas and Saul, after they had fulfilled their ministry, returned from Jerusalem to AnÆti-och, and took with them John whose surname was Mark.