Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm. ² And he ^(A)had James the brother of John ^(B)executed with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were ^[b](D)the days of Unleavened Bread.) ⁴ When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four ^[c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after ^(F)the Passover to bring him before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God ^[d]intensely by the church.

⁶ On ^[e]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)stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(J)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and ^[f]strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(K)a vision. ¹⁰ Now when they had passed the first and second guard, 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 ^[g]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(N)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[h]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 When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(Q)a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(R)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is ^(S)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[i](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 ^[j]what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ 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.

Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(Y)Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(Z)their country was supported with grain from the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the ^[k]rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(AA)an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and ^[l]died.

²⁴ But ^(AB)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵ And ^(A)Barnabas and ^(B)Saul returned ^(C)when they had fulfilled their ^[a]mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them ^(D)John, who was also called Mark.

First Missionary Journey

13 Now there were ^(E)prophets and ^(F)teachers at ^(G)Antioch, in the ^(H)church that was there: ^(I)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of ^(J)Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^(K)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were ^[b]serving the Lord and fasting, ^(L)the Holy Spirit said, “Set ^(M)Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for ^(N)the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted, ^(O)prayed, and ^(P)laid their hands on them, ^(Q)they sent them away.

⁴ So, being ^(R)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(S)Cyprus. ⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(T)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^(U)John as their helper. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(V)magician, a Jewish ^(W)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the ^(X)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(Y)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(Z)proconsul away from ^(AA)the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[c](AB)filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him, ¹⁰ and said, “^[d]You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(AC)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked ^(AD)the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(AE)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the ^(AF)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at ^(AG)the teaching of the Lord.