Book of Common Prayer

During This Time, King Herod Kills The Apostle James And Imprisons Peter

12 And about that time, Herod^[a] the king put hands on some of the ones from the church to mistreat them. ² And he killed James^[b], the brother of John, with a sword. ³ And having seen that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also (now the days of the Feast of Unleavened-Bread were taking place)— ⁴ whom indeed having seized, he put into prison, having handed him over to four squads^[c] of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him up to the people after the Passover [Feast]. ⁵ So indeed Peter was being kept in the prison. And prayer was fervently being made by the church to God for him.

An Angel Releases Peter

⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him forth, on that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, having been bound with two chains. And guards in front of the door were keeping-watch-over the prison. ⁷ And behold— an angel of the Lord stood near, and light^[d] shined in the cell. And having struck the side of Peter, he woke him, saying, “Arise quickly”. And his chains fell off of his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird-yourself ^[e] and tie-on your sandals”. And he did so. And he says to him, “Put-on your cloak and be following me”. ⁹ And having gone forth, he was following. And he did not know that the thing taking place by-means-of the angel was real, but he was thinking that he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ And having gone through a first guard-post^[f] and a second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which by-itself was opened for them. And having gone out, they went ahead one lane^[g], and immediately the angel departed from him.

Peter Goes To The House of The Mother of John Mark, Where They Were Praying

¹¹ And Peter, having become within^[h] himself, said, “Now I know truly that the Lord sent-out His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews”. ¹² And having become-aware^[i], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John (the one being called Mark), where there were many assembled-together and praying. ¹³ And he having knocked-on the door of the gate, a servant-girl went to it to answer— Rhoda by name. ¹⁴ And having recognized the voice of Peter, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but having run in, she reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ But the ones said to her, “You are mad^[j]”. But the one was insisting that it was holding so. But the ones were saying, “It is his angel”. ¹⁶ But Peter was continuing-on knocking. And having opened, they saw him and were astonished. ¹⁷ And having motioned to them with his hand to be silent, he related to them how the Lord led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James^[k] and the brothers”. And having gone out, he proceeded to another place.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic To Prove He Has Authority To Forgive Sins

2 And having entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that He was at home^[a]. ² And many were gathered together, so that the house was no longer having-room, not even the places at the door. And He was speaking the word to them. ³ And they come bringing to Him a paralytic being picked-up by four men. ⁴ And not being able to bring him to Him because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where He was. And having dug out an opening, they lower the cot on-which the paralytic was lying-down. ⁵ And Jesus, having seen their faith, says to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven”. ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why is this One speaking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who is able to forgive sins except One— God?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, having known^[b] in His spirit that they were reasoning in this manner within themselves, says to them “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier— to say to the paralytic ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Arise, and pick-up your cot and walk’? ¹⁰ But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— He says to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, arise, pick up your cot and go to your house”. ¹² And he arose, and immediately having picked-up the cot, went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was astonished^[c] and glorifying God, saying that “We never saw anything like this”.