Acts 12:18-25

New Testament for Everyone

¹⁸ When morning came, there was quite a commotion among the guards as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ Herod looked for him but couldn’t find him. He interrogated the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judaea and went down to Caesarea, and stayed there.

Herod’s vanity and death

²⁰ Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They all came together to meet him, and they persuaded Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedchamber, to seek a reconciliation. (They were, you see, dependent on the king’s country for their food.) ²¹ So a day was set, and Herod dressed himself in his royal robes and took his seat on the official platform to make a public address to them.

²² The people began to shout, “The voice of a god, not of a mortal!”

²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and expired.

²⁴ But God’s word grew and multiplied. ²⁵ Barnabas and Saul had by now accomplished their ministry in Jerusalem, and they came back to Antioch, bringing John Mark with them.