Acts 12
King James Version
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.
13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.
14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.
15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.
16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.
17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.
19 And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.
20 And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country.
21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.
Mga Gawa 12
Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version
Ang Pagpatay kay Santiago at ang Pagdakip kay Pedro
12 Nang mga panahong iyon, sinimulang usigin ni Haring Herodes ang ilan sa mga kaanib ng iglesya. 2 Pinapatay niya sa pamamagitan ng tabak si Santiago na kapatid ni Juan. 3 Nang makita niyang ito'y ikinatuwa ng mga Judio, ipinadakip naman niya si Pedro. Pista noon ng Tinapay na Walang Pampaalsa. 4 Pagkatapos dakpin si Pedro, ikinulong siya sa bilangguan at pinabantayan sa apat na pangkat na mga kawal. Balak ni Herodes na iharap siya sa taong-bayan pagkatapos ng Paskuwa. 5 Habang nasa bilangguan si Pedro, nagkaroon ng taimtim na pananalangin sa Diyos ang iglesya para sa kanya.
Ang Pagpapalaya ng Anghel kay Pedro
6 Nang gabing si Pedro ay malapit nang iharap ni Herodes sa mga tao, natutulog si Pedro na nakatanikala sa pagitan ng dalawang kawal. Mayroon pang mga bantay sa harap ng pintuan, 7 nang biglang lumitaw ang isang anghel ng Panginoon at isang liwanag ang tumanglaw sa kulungan. Tinapik niya si Pedro sa tagiliran at ginising. “Bumangon ka! Bilis!” sabi ng anghel. At nakalag ang mga tanikala sa kanyang mga kamay. 8 Sinabi sa kanya ng anghel, “Magbihis ka at isuot mo ang iyong mga sandalyas.” Sumunod naman si Pedro. “Magbalabal ka at sumunod sa akin,” dagdag ng anghel. 9 Sumunod si Pedro sa labas, na nag-aakalang siya'y nananaginip. Hindi niya alam na tunay ang nangyayari sa pamamagitan ng anghel. 10 Nadaanan nila ang una at pangalawang bantay, at dumating sila sa pintuang-bakal na patungo sa lungsod. Ito'y kusang nabuksan para sa kanila at sila'y lumabas. Pagkaraan nila sa isang lansangan ay agad siyang iniwan ng anghel.
11 Noon natauhan si Pedro, kaya kanyang sinabi, “Ngayo'y natitiyak ko na sinugo ng Panginoon ang kanyang anghel at iniligtas ako mula sa kamay ni Herodes at sa lahat ng binabalak ng mga Judio.”
12 Nang mapag-isip-isip niya ito, pumunta siya sa bahay ni Maria, ang ina ni Juan na tinatawag ding Marcos. Doon nagtitipon at nananalangin ang maraming tao. 13 Nang kumatok siya sa pinto, isang babaing katulong na ang pangalan ay Roda ang lumapit upang alamin kung sino ang kumakatok. 14 Nang makilala niya ang tinig ni Pedro, sa laki ng tuwa'y hindi na niya nagawang buksan ang pinto. Sa halip ay tumakbo siya paloob at sinabing si Pedro ang nasa pintuan. 15 “Nababaliw ka na,” sabi nila sa kanya. Ngunit nang ipinilit niya na naroon talaga si Pedro, kanilang sinabi, “Anghel niya iyon.” 16 Samantala'y patuloy sa pagkatok si Pedro. Nang kanilang buksan, nakita nila si Pedro at sila'y namangha. 17 Sila'y sinenyasan niyang tumahimik, pagkatapos ay isinalaysay sa kanila kung paano siya inilabas ng Panginoon mula sa bilangguan. Pagkasabi niyang “Ipagbigay-alam ninyo ito kay Santiago, at sa mga kapatid,” siya'y umalis at pumunta sa ibang dako.
18 Kinaumagahan, gulung-gulo ang mga kawal dahil hindi nila alam kung ano ang nangyari kay Pedro. 19 Nang hindi pa rin siya matagpuan matapos maipahanap ni Herodes, ipinasiyasat nito ang mga bantay at ipinag-utos na sila'y patayin.
Buhat sa Judea, si Pedro ay pumunta sa Cesarea, at doon nanirahan.
Ang Pagkamatay ni Herodes
20 Matagal nang umaapaw ang galit noon ni Herodes sa mga taga-Tiro at taga-Sidon. Nagkaisa ang mga tao na pumunta sa kanya upang makipagkasundo, sapagkat umaasa ang kanilang bayan sa lupain ng hari para sa kanilang ikabubuhay. Hinikayat nila si Blasto na katiwala ng hari upang tulungan sila.
21 Sumapit ang takdang araw at isinuot ni Herodes ang damit-hari at naupo sa trono, at sa kanila'y nagtalumpati. 22 Sumigaw ang taong-bayan, “Ito'y tinig ng diyos at hindi ng tao!” 23 Noon di'y agad siyang sinaktan ng isang anghel ng Panginoon, sapagkat hindi niya ibinigay ang kaluwalhatian sa Diyos. Kinain siya ng mga uod at namatay.
24 Samantala, ang salita ng Diyos ay patuloy na lumaganap at marami pa ang nahikayat. 25 Matapos magampanan ang kanilang tungkulin sa Jerusalem, nagbalik sina Bernabe at Saulo na kasama si Juan na tinatawag ding Marcos.
Acts 12
EasyEnglish Bible
King Herod puts Peter in prison
12 At that time, King Herod took hold of some of the group of believers in Jerusalem. He wanted to cause them to suffer. 2 He sent his soldiers to cut off James's head. James was John's brother.[a]
3 King Herod saw that the Jews were happy because he had killed James. So he sent his soldiers to take hold of Peter too. This happened during the Festival of Flat Bread.[b]
4 After the soldiers caught Peter, they put him in prison. While he was in prison, four different groups of soldiers guarded him. There were four soldiers in each group.[c] Herod wanted to judge Peter in front of everybody. After the Passover festival had finished, he would bring Peter out of the prison to do this.
5 So Herod kept Peter in prison. But during that time, the group of believers prayed that God would help Peter.
Peter walks out of the prison
6 It was the night before King Herod wanted to bring Peter out of the prison and judge him. The soldiers had tied Peter to themselves with chains. So Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Some other soldiers were guarding the doors of the prison. 7 Then, an angel from the Lord God suddenly appeared in the prison. A bright light shone in the room where Peter was sleeping. The angel touched Peter's shoulder so that Peter woke up. He said to Peter, ‘Hurry! Stand up!’ Immediately the chains fell off Peter's hands.
8 Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and your shoes.’ Peter did what the angel told him to do. Then the angel said, ‘Now put on your coat and follow me.’ 9 So Peter followed the angel out of the prison. He was not sure that all these things were really happening to him. He thought that he might be dreaming. 10 Peter and the angel walked past the first group of soldiers in the prison. Then they walked past the second group of soldiers. After that, they came to the big metal gate in the wall of the prison. The city was outside this gate. The gate opened by itself in front of them. So Peter and the angel went out of the prison through the gate. They walked together along one street and then, suddenly, the angel went away.
11 Then Peter understood what had happened. He said to himself, ‘Now I know that these things really have happened to me. The Lord God sent one of his angels to rescue me from Herod's power. The Jewish leaders wanted Herod to cause me to suffer. But God has saved me from those bad things.’
12 When Peter realized what God had done for him, he went to Mary's house. She was the mother of John Mark. Many people were meeting together in her house. They were praying to God.[d]
13 Peter knocked on the outside door of the house. A servant girl called Rhoda came to the door. 14 She recognized Peter's voice and she was very happy. But she did not open the door. Instead, she ran back into the house and she said to all the people there, ‘Peter is standing outside the door!’
15 The people in the house said to her, ‘You are crazy.’ But she told them again that Peter really was there. So then they said, ‘It is not him, but it is his angel.’[e]
16 While all this was happening, Peter was still knocking at the door. Then someone went and opened the door. They were all very surprised when they saw him there. 17 Peter raised his hand towards them so that they would all be quiet. Then he explained to them how the Lord God had brought him out of the prison. He said to them, ‘Tell James and all the other believers what has happened to me.’[f] Then he left the house and he went away to another place.
18 When morning arrived, there was a lot of trouble at the prison. The soldiers did not understand what had happened to Peter. 19 When Herod knew about it, he said to the soldiers, ‘Go and look for Peter!’ But they could not find him anywhere. Herod then asked the soldiers who guarded the prison some questions. They could not explain what had happened. So Herod commanded other soldiers to cut off their heads.
After this happened, Herod left Judea. He went to Caesarea and he stayed there for some time.
King Herod dies
20 At that time, King Herod was angry with the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon. A group of men from these cities went together to speak to Herod about the problem. A man called Blastus was an important servant in King Herod's house. The group of men said to Blastus, ‘Please help us when we speak to King Herod.’ Then they went and they said to Herod, ‘Please stop being angry with our people. We want to be friends again.’ They said this because they needed to buy food in King Herod's country.[g]
21 Herod decided on which day he would meet with them. He put on his beautiful clothes and he sat in his special seat as king. Then he spoke his message to all the people. 22 When he spoke, the people shouted, ‘This is not a man who is speaking to us. This is the voice of a god!’
23 Herod let the people praise him, instead of God. So, immediately, an angel of the Lord God caused him to become very ill. Worms ate his body and later he died.
Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch
24 Everywhere that the believers went, they told people God's message. People heard the message in more and more places and many of them believed in Jesus.
25 Barnabas and Saul had gone to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They finished their work and then they returned to Antioch. They took John Mark with them.
Footnotes
- 12:2 James and John were sons of Zebedee. King Herod killed James about 10 years after Jesus became alive again.
- 12:3 The Jews usually made bread with yeast, flour and water. But during the week of the Passover festival they did not use any yeast in their bread.
- 12:4 Each group of soldiers guarded the prison for four hours. When one group stopped the next group started. They did this day and night.
- 12:12 It is possible that John Mark wrote Mark's book about Jesus. Mary was the aunt of Barnabas.
- 12:15 At that time, some people believed that everyone had an angel. These angels kept them safe.
- 12:17 This is a different man called James than the man that Herod killed.
- 12:20 The Romans ruled Tyre and Sidon. These were not Jewish cities. And the people did not want Herod to rule them. But they bought their food from Galilee. And the problem was that Herod ruled in Galilee.
Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version, Copyright © Philippine Bible Society 2009.
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