Acts

¹About that time, King Herod took actions to oppress some of the [members of the] Church. ²He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. ³When Herod¹⁴¹⁹ saw that it pleased the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter as well. (This was during the days of unleavened bread). ⁴After arresting Peter, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. ⁵And so, Peter was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the Church to God for him. ⁶The same night, when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

⁷Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, the angel¹⁴²⁰ woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” And Peter’s chains fell off from his hands. ⁸The angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals!” and he did so. Then the angel said, “Put on your cloak and follow me!” ⁹Peter went out and followed him, but he did not realize that what was being done by the angel was real,¹⁴²¹ thinking that he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰When they were past the first and second guard, they arrived at the iron gate which leads into the city, and it opened to them by itself. Having gone through, they went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he exclaimed, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹²After pondering on this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name¹⁴²² was Mark, where many were gathered together and praying. ¹³When Peter¹⁴²³ knocked at the outer gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she did not open the door! Instead, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

¹⁵But they said to her, “You are crazy!” When she insisted that it was so, they said, “It is his angel!” ¹⁶Meanwhile Peter continued knocking. When they opened [the door], they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷But he motioned them with his hand to be silent and told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell these things to James,¹⁴²⁴ and to the brethren.” Then he departed, and went to another place.

¹⁸As soon as it was day, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹When Herod had looked for him and could not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered that they should be put to death. Meanwhile, Peter went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Herod’s death

²⁰At that time, Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. With one accord, they came to him, and, having befriended Blastus (the king’s personal aide), they asked for peace because their country depended on the king’s country for food. ²¹On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and gave a speech to them. ²²The people shouted, “The voice of a god,¹⁴²⁵ not of a man!” ²³Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Barnabas and Saul—First travels

²⁴Meanwhile, the word of God grew and multiplied. ²⁵After completing their service, Barnabas and Saul returned from¹⁴²⁶ Jerusalem, and they also took with them John whose other name¹⁴²⁷ was Mark.

1419. Greek “he”
1420. Greek “he”
1421. Greek avlhqe,j
1422. See verse 25 and note
1423. Greek “he”
1424. This is the first reference to “James” as leader of the Church in Jerusalem. The identity of this “James” with James of Alphaeus and the title of “brother of the Lord” are discussed in Appendix E.
1425. Greek Qeou/ fwnh.
1426. TR agrees with PT. CT and MT have “to”
1427. Or “surname/nickname/usual name”