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Acts 12 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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James Is Killed and Peter Is Imprisoned
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:1 - About that time King Herod Agrippa[fn] began to persecute some believers in the church.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:2 - He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:3 - When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.[fn])
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:4 - Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:5 - But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.
Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:6 - The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:7 - Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:8 - Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:9 - So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:10 - They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:11 - Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders[fn] had planned to do to me!”
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:12 - When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:13 - He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:14 - When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:15 - “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:16 - Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:17 - He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:18 - At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:19 - Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.
The Death of Herod Agrippa
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:20 - Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant,
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:21 - and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:22 - The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:23 - Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:24 - Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.
Unchecked Copy BoxAct 12:25 - When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned,[fn] taking John Mark with them.
NLT Footnotes
Greek Herod the king. He was the nephew of Herod Antipas and a grandson of Herod the Great.
Greek the days of unleavened bread.
Or the Jewish people.
Or mission, they returned to Jerusalem. Other manuscripts read mission, they returned from Jerusalem; still others read mission, they returned from Jerusalem to Antioch.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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