Acts 12-13

New King James Version

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.

Herod’s Violent Death

²⁰ Now Herod had been very angry with the people of ^(O)Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus ^[e]the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because ^(P)their country was ^[f]supplied with food by the king’s country.

²¹ So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. ²² And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ Then immediately an angel of the Lord ^(Q)struck him, because ^(R)he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and ^[g]died.

²⁴ But ^(S)the word of God grew and multiplied.

Barnabas and Saul Appointed

²⁵ And ^(T)Barnabas and Saul returned ^[h]from Jerusalem when they had ^(U)fulfilled their ministry, and they also ^(V)took with them ^(W)John whose surname was Mark.

Paul and Barnabas Are Sent to the Gentiles

13 Now ^(X)in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: ^(Y)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^(Z)Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^(AA)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^(AB)to which I have called them.” ³ Then, ^(AC)having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Preaching in Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^(AD)Cyprus. ⁵ And when they arrived in Salamis, ^(AE)they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had ^(AF)John as their assistant.

⁶ Now when they had gone through ^[i]the island to Paphos, they found ^(AG)a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But ^(AH)Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) ^[j]withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, ^(AI)filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, ^(AJ)you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, indeed, ^(AK)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”

And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

At Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and ^(AL)John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and ^(AM)went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵ And ^(AN)after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have ^(AO)any word of ^[k]exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^(AP)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people ^[l]Israel ^(AQ)chose our fathers, and exalted the people ^(AR)when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with ^[m]an uplifted arm He ^(AS)brought them out of it. ¹⁸ Now ^(AT)for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And when He had destroyed ^(AU)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(AV)He distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰ “After that ^(AW)He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, ^(AX)until Samuel the prophet. ^21 (AY)And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^(AZ)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(BA)when He had removed him, ^(BB)He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ^(BC)‘I have found David the son of Jesse, ^(BD)a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ^23 (BE)From this man’s seed, according ^(BF)to the promise, God raised up for Israel ^(BG)a^[n] Savior—Jesus— ^24 (BH)after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^(BI)‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^(BJ)there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶ “Men and brethren, sons of the ^[o]family of Abraham, and ^(BK)those among you who fear God, ^(BL)to you the ^[p]word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^(BM)because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28 (BN)And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29 (BO)Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^(BP)they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30 (BQ)But God raised Him from the dead. ^31 (BR)He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³² And we declare to you glad tidings—^(BS)that promise which was made to the fathers. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ^[q]corruption, He has spoken thus:

³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

³⁶ “For David, after he had served ^[s]his own generation by the will of God, ^(BW)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ^[t]saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up ^[u]saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(BX)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and ^(BY)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

^42 [v]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^(CA)persuaded them to continue in ^(CB)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^(CC)opposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^(CD)“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^(CE)since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ^(CF)we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^(CH)And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^(CI)raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^51 (CJ)But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples ^(CK)were filled with joy and ^(CL)with the Holy Spirit.