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ActsChapter 12

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About that time King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to do them harm.
He had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword.
When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he went on to seize Peter as well. This was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
After arresting him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying to God for him without ceasing.
On the very night before Herod was to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while sentries stood guard at the door of the prison.
Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Quick, get up!" And the chains fell from his wrists.
Then the angel said to him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." He did so. "Wrap your cloak around you," the angel said, "and follow me."
So Peter went out and followed him, not realizing that what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.
They passed the first guard post and then the second, and came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went out and walked the length of one street. Then, all at once, the angel left him.
Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know beyond a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's hand and from everything the Jewish people were expecting."
Realizing this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had gathered and were praying.
When he knocked at the outer door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
Recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that instead of opening the gate she ran in and announced that Peter was standing outside.
"You are out of your mind," they told her. But she kept insisting it was so, and they said, "It is his angel."
Meanwhile Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.
He motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Report this to James and to the brothers," he said. Then he left and went to another place.
When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
Herod made a thorough search for him, and when he did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered them led away for execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
Now Herod was in a bitter quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him together and, after winning over Blastus, the king's personal attendant, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's land for its food.
On the appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the judgment platform, and delivered a public address to them.
The crowd kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"
At once an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he had not given God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
But the word of God continued to grow and spread.
When Barnabas and Saul had completed their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking with them John, also called Mark.
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