BSB ACTs Chapter 12

James Killed, Peter Imprisoned

12 About that time, King Herod[fn] reached out to harm[fn] some who belonged to the church. 2 {He had} James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

3 And seeing that [this] pleased the Jews, [Herod] proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened [Bread].[fn] 4 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.

The Rescue of Peter

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

6 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. 7 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. 8 “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.”

9 [So] [Peter] followed him out, [but] he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision. 10 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.

11 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.”

12 And [when] he had realized [this], he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, [also] called Mark, where many [people] had gathered together and were praying. 13 He knocked [at] the outer gate, [and] a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer [it]. 14 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!”

15 “You are out of your mind,” they told her. But [when] she kept insisting [it] was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and [when] they opened [the door] [and] saw him, they were astounded. 17 [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.

18 At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become [of] Peter. 19 [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].

The Death of Herod

20 Now [Herod] was in a furious dispute[fn] [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. 21 On the appointed day, Herod donned [his] royal [robes], sat on [his] throne, [and] addressed [the people]. 22 And [they] began to shout, “[This is the] voice of a god, not a man!”

23 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.

24 But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

25 [When] Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled [their] mission to Jerusalem, they returned,[fn] bringing with [them] John, [also] called Mark.