Acts 12:6-19
Expanded Bible
Peter Released by an Angel
6 The night before Herod was to bring him ·to trial [L out; C either for trial or for execution], Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Other soldiers were guarding the door of the jail. 7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shined in the cell. The angel ·struck [tapped; poked] Peter on the side and woke him up. “Hurry! Get up!” the angel said. And the chains fell off Peter’s ·hands [wrists]. 8 Then the angel told him, “·Get dressed [or Put on your belt] and put on your sandals.” And Peter did. Then the angel said, “·Put on your coat [L Wrap your coat/cloak around you] and follow me.” 9 So Peter followed him out, but he did not know if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he might be seeing a vision. 10 They went past the first and second guards and came to the iron gate that ·separated them from [L led to] the city. The gate opened by itself for them, and they went through it. When they had walked down one street, the angel suddenly left him.
11 Then Peter ·realized what had happened [came to himself]. He thought, “Now I know that the Lord really sent his angel to me. He rescued me ·from [L from the hands of] Herod and from all the things the [L Jewish] people thought would happen.”
12 When he ·considered [realized] this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John [L who was also called] Mark [12:25; 13:5; 15:37; Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24; 1 Pet. 5:13]. Many people were gathered there, praying. 13 Peter knocked on the ·outside door [or courtyard gate], and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy she forgot to open the ·door [gate]. Instead, she ran inside and told the group, “Peter is at the ·door [gate]!”
15 They said to her, “You are ·crazy [insane; mad]!” But she kept on ·saying [insisting] it was true, so they said, “It must be Peter’s angel.”
16 [L But; Meanwhile] Peter continued to knock, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were ·amazed [astonished]. 17 Peter ·made a sign [motioned] with his hand to tell them to be quiet. He ·explained [recounted] how the Lord led him out of the ·jail [prison], and he said, “Tell James [C not the son of Zebedee (who had been executed, 12:2), but the half-brother of Jesus, who would become the senior leader in the Jerusalem church; 15:13–21; 21:18] and the other ·believers [L brothers] what happened.” Then he left to go to another place.
18 The next ·day [or morning] ·the soldiers were very upset [L there was no small commotion among the soldiers; C soldiers who allowed a prisoner to escape would suffer the prisoner’s punishment] and wondered what had happened to Peter. 19 Herod ·looked [searched] everywhere for him but could not find him. So he questioned the guards and ordered that they be ·killed [L led away; C presumably to be executed].
The Death of Herod Agrippa
Later Herod ·moved [or took a trip] from Judea and went to the city of Caesarea, where he stayed.
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