Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Now Saul approved of putting ^[a]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[b]began against ^(B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(D)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went through places ^[c](H)preaching the word. ^5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[d]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[e]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(K)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(R)baptized. ¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(S)signs and ^(T)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(U)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(V)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(W)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[f]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(Z)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(AA)receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^(AB)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or share in this ^[g]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[h]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[i]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(AG)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(AH)testified and spoken ^(AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(AJ)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(AK)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(AL)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(AM)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[j]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[k]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[l](AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[m]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(AP)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[n]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[o]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(AT)opened his mouth, and ^(AU)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AV)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AW)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[r] 38} And he ordered that the ^[s]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(AX)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[t]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[u]found himself at ^[v](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.

The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(BB)Now ^[w]Saul, still ^(BC)breathing ^[x]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(BD)letters from him to ^(BE)the synagogues in ^(BF)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^[y](BG)the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(BH)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(BI)he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and ^(BJ)it will be told to you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(BK)stood speechless, ^(BL)hearing the ^[z]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(BM)though his eyes were open, he ^[aa]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(BN)Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in ^(BO)Damascus named ^(BP)Ananias; and the Lord said to him in ^(BQ)a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(BR)Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[ab]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(BS)lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, ^(BT)how much harm he did to ^(BU)Your ^[ac]saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(BV)has authority from the chief priests to ^[ad]arrest all who ^(BW)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(BX)he is a chosen ^[ae]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(BY)the Gentiles and ^(BZ)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(CA)I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^(CB)laying his hands on him said, “^(CC)Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be ^(CD)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^(CE)for several days he was with ^(CF)the disciples who were in Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(CG)in the synagogues, ^[af]saying, “He is ^(CH)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(CI)destroyed those who ^(CJ)called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[ag]Christ.

²³ When ^(CK)many days had elapsed, ^(CL)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, ²⁴ but ^(CM)their plot became known to Saul. ^(CN)They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

^26 (CO)When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But ^(CP)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had ^(CQ)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^(CR)he had ^(CS)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. ²⁸ And he was with them, ^[ah]moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^(CT)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the ^[ai](CU)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ Now when ^(CV)the ^[aj]brothers learned of it, they brought him down to ^(CW)Caesarea and ^(CX)sent him away to ^(CY)Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(CZ)the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ^[ak]enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it ^[al]continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

Peter’s Ministry

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he also came down to ^(DA)the ^[am]saints who lived at ^[an](DB)Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, ^[ao]because he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your own bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵ And all who lived at ^[ap](DC)Lydda and ^(DD)Sharon saw him, and they ^(DE)turned to the Lord.

³⁶ Now in ^(DF)Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means ^[aq]Dorcas); this woman was ^[ar]excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually. ³⁷ But it happened ^[as]at that time that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^(DG)upstairs room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near ^(DH)Joppa, ^(DI)the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹ So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^(DJ)room upstairs; and all the ^(DK)widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ^[at]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(DL)sent them all out and ^(DM)knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^(DN)Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling ^(DO)the ^[au]saints and ^(DP)widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² It became known all over ^(DQ)Joppa, and ^(DR)many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And Peter stayed in ^(DS)Joppa many days with ^(DT)a tanner named Simon.

Cornelius’ Vision

10 Now there was a man in ^(DU)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(DV)called the Italian ^[av]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(DW)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(DX)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(DY)the ^[aw]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(DZ)in a vision ^(EA)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And he ^(EB)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts ^(EC)have ascended ^(ED)as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to ^(EE)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named ^(EF)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his ^[ax]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(EG)Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(EH)Peter went up on ^(EI)the ^[ay]housetop about ^[az](EJ)the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he ^(EK)fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw ^(EL)the sky opened up, and an ^[ba]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and ^[bb]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ^[bc]kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(EM)Lord, for ^(EN)I have never eaten anything ^[bd]unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(EO)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[be]consider unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the ^[bf]object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[bg]mind as to what ^(EP)the vision which he had seen might ^[bh]mean, behold, ^(EQ)the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on ^(ER)the vision, ^(ES)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[bi]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and ^(ET)accompany them ^[bj]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(EU)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(EV)was divinely directed by a ^(EW)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[bk](EX)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter in Caesarea

Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and ^(EY)some of ^(EZ)the brothers from ^(FA)Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(FB)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[bl](FC)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “^(FD)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(FE)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is ^(FF)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a ^[bm]foreigner; and yet ^(FG)God has shown me that I am not to call any person ^[bn]unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “^(FH)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(FI)the ^[bo]ninth hour; and behold, ^(FJ)a man stood before me in shining clothing, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send some men to ^(FK)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent men to you immediately, and you have ^[bp]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34 (FL)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(FM)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(FN)in every nation the one who ^[bq](FO)fears Him and ^[br]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(FP)preaching ^[bs](FQ)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(FR)Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [bt]You know of ^(FS)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(FT)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[bu](FU)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(FV)God was with Him. ³⁹ We are ^(FW)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the ^[bv]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on ^[bw](FX)a cross. ^40 (FY)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He ^[bx]be revealed, ^41 (FZ)not to all the people, but to ^(GA)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(GB)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(GC)ordered us to ^[by]preach to the people, and to ^(GD)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been ^(GE)appointed by God as ^(GF)Judge of the living and the dead. ^43 (GG)All the prophets testify of Him, that through ^(GH)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(GI)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ^[bz]message. ^45 (GJ)All the ^[ca]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been ^(GK)poured out on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(GL)speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “^(GM)Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who ^(GN)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(GO)ordered them to be baptized ^(GP)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

Peter Reports in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and ^(GQ)the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^[cb](GR)the Jewish believers took issue with him, ³ saying, “^(GS)You ^[cc]went to ^[cd]uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained at length to them ^(GT)in an orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “^(GU)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^(GV)a vision, an ^[ce]object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was, ⁶ and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the ^[cf]crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; ^[cg]kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing ^[ch]unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^(GW)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[ci]consider unholy.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. ¹¹ And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from ^(GX)Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying. ^12 (GY)And the Spirit told me to go with them ^(GZ)without ^[cj]misgivings. ^(HA)These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ^[ck]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ¹⁴ and he will speak ^(HB)words to you by which you will be saved, you and ^(HC)all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, ^(HD)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^(HE)as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(HF)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[cl]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if ^(HG)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(HH)who was I that I could ^[cm]stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they ^[cn]quieted down and ^(HI)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the ^(HJ)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (HK)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[co]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[cp]to ^(HL)Phoenicia, ^(HM)Cyprus, and ^(HN)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(HO)Cyprus and ^(HP)Cyrene, who came to ^(HQ)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[cq](HR)Greeks as well, ^(HS)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(HT)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(HU)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[cr]news about them ^[cs]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(HV)Barnabas off ^[ct]to ^(HW)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[cu]witnessed ^(HX)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[cv]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(HY)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^[cw](HZ)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(IA)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(IB)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[cx]met with the church and taught ^[cy]considerable numbers of people; and ^(IC)the disciples were first called ^(ID)Christians in ^(IE)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[cz]at this time some ^(IF)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(IG)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named ^(IH)Agabus, stood up and ^[da]indicated ^[db]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(II)all over the ^[dc]world. ^[dd]And this took place in the reign of ^(IJ)Claudius. ²⁹ And to the extent that any of ^(IK)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[de]relief of ^(IL)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ^30 (IM)And they did this, sending it ^[df]with ^(IN)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(IO)elders.

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[dg]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm. ² And he ^(IP)had James the brother of John ^(IQ)executed with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(IR)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were ^[dh](IS)the days of Unleavened Bread.) ⁴ When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four ^[di](IT)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after ^(IU)the Passover to bring him before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God ^[dj]intensely by the church.

⁶ On ^[dk]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(IV)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(IW)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(IX)stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(IY)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and ^[dl]strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(IZ)a vision. ¹⁰ Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(JA)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(JB)came ^[dm]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(JC)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[dn]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(JD)John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(JE)were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(JF)a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(JG)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is ^(JH)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(JI)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[do](JJ)James and ^(JK)the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to ^[dp]what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(JL)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(JM)Caesarea and was spending time there.

Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(JN)Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(JO)their country was supported with grain from the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the ^[dq]rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(JP)an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and ^[dr]died.

²⁴ But ^(JQ)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵ And ^(JR)Barnabas and ^(JS)Saul returned ^(JT)when they had fulfilled their ^[ds]mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them ^(JU)John, who was also called Mark.