Acts 12
New International Reader's Version
An Angel Helps Peter Escape From Prison
12 About this time, King Herod arrested some people who belonged to the church. He planned to make them suffer greatly. 2 He had James killed with a sword. James was John’s brother. 3 Herod saw that the death of James pleased some Jews. So he arrested Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 After Herod arrested Peter, he put him in prison. Peter was placed under guard. He was watched by four groups of four soldiers each. Herod planned to put Peter on public trial. It would take place after the Passover Feast.
5 So Peter was kept in prison. But the church prayed hard to God for him.
6 It was the night before Herod was going to bring him to trial. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Two chains held him there. Lookouts stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared. A light shone in the prison cell. The angel struck Peter on his side. Peter woke up. “Quick!” the angel said. “Get up!” The chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” Peter did so. “Put on your coat,” the angel told him. “Follow me.” 9 Peter followed him out of the prison. But he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards. Then they came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself. They went through it. They walked the length of one street. Suddenly the angel left Peter.
11 Then Peter realized what had happened. He said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent his angel. He set me free from Herod’s power. He saved me from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When Peter understood what had happened, he went to Mary’s house. Mary was the mother of John Mark. Many people had gathered in her home. They were praying there. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance. A servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice. She was so excited that she ran back without opening the door. “Peter is at the door!” she exclaimed.
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they said to her. But she kept telling them it was true. So they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet. He explained how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said. Then he went to another place.
18 In the morning the soldiers were bewildered. They couldn’t figure out what had happened to Peter. 19 So Herod had them look everywhere for Peter. But they didn’t find him. Then Herod questioned the guards closely. He ordered that they be put to death.
Herod Dies
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they got together and asked for a meeting with him. This was because they depended on the king’s country to supply them with food. They gained the support of Blastus and then asked for peace. Blastus was a trusted personal servant of the king.
21 The appointed day came. Herod was seated on his throne. He was wearing his royal robes. He made a speech to the people. 22 Then they shouted, “This is the voice of a god. It’s not the voice of a man.” 23 Right away an angel of the Lord struck Herod down. Herod had not given praise to God. So he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But God’s word continued to spread and many people believed the message.
Barnabas and Saul Are Sent Off
25 Barnabas and Saul finished their task. Then they returned from Jerusalem. They took John Mark with them.
Acts 12
Legacy Standard Bible
An Angel Frees Peter from Prison
12 Now about that time [a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. 2 And he (A)had James the brother of John (B)put to death with a sword. 3 And when he saw that it (C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now [b]it was during (D)the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four [c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after (F)the Passover to bring him out before the people. 5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
6 Now on [d]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, (G)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. 7 And behold, (H)an angel of the Lord suddenly (I)appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And (J)his chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and [e]put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” 9 And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing (K)a vision. 10 And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which (L)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11 When Peter (M)came [f]to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that (N)the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all [g]that the Jewish people were expecting.” 12 And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of (O)John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and (P)were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gate, (Q)a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 And when she recognized Peter’s voice, (R)because of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 15 And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is (S)his angel.” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. 17 But (T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to (U)James and (V)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 what [h]had become of Peter. 19 And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they (W)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to (X)Caesarea and was spending time there.
The Death of Herod
20 Now he was very angry with the people of (Y)Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because (Z)their country was fed by the king’s country. 21 And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. 22 And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately (AA)an angel of the [i]Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
24 But (AB)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
25 And (AC)Barnabas and (AD)Saul [j]returned [k]to Jerusalem, (AE)fulfilling their ministry, taking along with them (AF)John, who was also called Mark.
Footnotes
- Acts 12:1 Herod Agrippa I
- Acts 12:3 Lit they were the days
- Acts 12:4 Lit quaternions; a quaternion was composed of four soldiers
- Acts 12:6 Lit that night
- Acts 12:8 Lit bind
- Acts 12:11 Lit in himself
- Acts 12:11 Lit the expectation of the people of the Jews
- Acts 12:18 Lit therefore had become
- Acts 12:23 In OT, Yahweh, cf. 2 Kin 1:3
- Acts 12:25 Or returned, fulfilling their ministry in Jerusalem
- Acts 12:25 Later mss from
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.
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