Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ And I said to the king, “^(E)May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the ^[a]site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “^[b]What would you request?” ^(G)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(H)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(I)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(J)forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the citadel which is by the ^[c]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(L)the good hand of my God was on me.

⁹ Then I came to ^(M)the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now ^(N)the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ And when ^(O)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[d]official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I ^(P)came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[e]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ So I went out at night by ^(Q)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^(R)which were broken down and its ^(S)gates which had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed on to ^(T)the Fountain Gate and ^(U)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for ^[f]my mount to pass. ¹⁵ So I was going up at night by the ^(V)ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that ^(W)Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” ^(X)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[g]official, and ^(Y)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(Z)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AA)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(AB)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(AC)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

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 ^(AC)Barnabas and ^(AD)Saul returned ^(AE)when they had fulfilled their ^[m]mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them ^(AF)John, who was also called Mark.