Herod strikes at the church
1About that time King Herod laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2He had James, the brother of John, put to the sword; 3and when he saw that this pleased the Jews, he went on to seize Peter as well. It was during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5So Peter was kept under guard in the prison, while the church prayed to God for him without ceasing.
Peter freed from prison
6The night before Herod was to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards were keeping watch at the door of the cell. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and light filled the room. He struck Peter on the side and woke him. “Quick, get up,” he said, and the chains dropped from Peter’s wrists. 8The angel told him, “Do up your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” he said. 9Peter went out and followed him, without realizing that what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first guard post and the second, and came to the iron gate that leads into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and walked the length of one street; then the angel left him. 11Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know beyond doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s hand and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.” 12Then he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. 13When he knocked at the outer door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14She recognized Peter’s voice, and in her joy she did not open the door but ran back inside to announce that Peter was standing at the gate. 15“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But she insisted that it was so. “It must be his angel,” they said. 16Peter went on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded. 17He motioned with his hand for silence and described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Report this to James and to the brothers and sisters,” he said. Then he left and went somewhere else. 18When day came there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what could have become of Peter. 19Herod searched for him and did not find him; he interrogated the guards and ordered them led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
The death of Herod
20He was furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came to him with one accord and, having won over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s territory for its food. 21On the appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform and delivered an address to them. 22The people shouted back, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” 23At once an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he had not given the glory to God; he was eaten by worms and died. 24But the word of God went on growing and spreading. 25Barnabas and Saul returned, having completed their service in Jerusalem, taking with them John who is called Mark.
