Peter and John Arrested

4 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the ^(A)Sadducees came upon them, ² being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Addressing the Sanhedrin

⁵ And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, ⁶ as well as ^(B)Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, ^(C)“By what power or by what name have you done this?”

^8 (D)Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ⁹ If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, ^(E)that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^(F)whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ^(G)‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ ^12 (H)Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The Name of Jesus Forbidden

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, ^(I)and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed ^(J)standing with them, they could say nothing against it. ¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, ¹⁶ saying, ^(K)“What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a ^[a]notable miracle has been done through them is ^(L)evident^[b] to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

^18 (M)So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered and said to them, ^(N)“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. ^20 (O)For we cannot but speak the things which ^(P)we have seen and heard.” ²¹ So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, ^(Q)because of the people, since they all ^(R)glorified God for ^(S)what had been done. ²² For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

Herod’s Violence to the Church

12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ² Then he killed James ^(A)the brother of John with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during ^(B)the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ So ^(C)when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four ^[a]squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter Freed from Prison

⁵ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but ^[b]constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ^[c]keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, ^(D)an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed him, and ^(E)did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought ^(F)he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, ^(G)which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that ^(H)the Lord has sent His angel, and ^(I)has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

¹² So, when he had considered this, ^(J)he came to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(K)John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together ^(L)praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ^(M)“It is his angel.”

¹⁶ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ But ^(N)motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small ^[d]stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.

And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.