Acts 12:6-19

New International Version

⁶The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,^(A) and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷Suddenly an angel^(B) of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.^(C)

⁸Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹Peter 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.^(D) ¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,^(E) and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself^(F) and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me^(G) from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹²When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,^(H) where many people had gathered and were praying.^(I) ¹³Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.^(J) ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed^(K) she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”^(L)

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand^(M) for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James^(N) and the other brothers and sisters^(O) about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

¹⁸In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.^(P)

Herod’s Death

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea^(Q) and stayed there.

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Acts 12:6-19

International Standard Version

⁶That very night, before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, and guards in front of the door were watching the prisoners. ⁷Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on his side, woke him up, and said, “Get up quickly!” His chains fell from his wrists. ⁸Then the angel told him, “Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!” He did this. Then the angel^[a] told him, “Put on your coat and follow me!” ⁹So Peter^[b] went out and began to follow him, not realizing that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened by itself for them, and they went outside and proceeded one block when the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from^[c] Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting!”

¹²When Peter^[d] realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying. ¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she didn’t open the gate but ran back inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵The other people^[e] told her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁶Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking and knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, “Tell this to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went somewhere else. ¹⁸When morning came, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹Herod searched for him but didn’t find him, so he questioned the guards and ordered them to be executed. Then he left Judea, went down to Caesarea, and stayed there for a while.

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