Acts 12:5-19

New International Version

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.^(A)

⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,^(B) and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷ Suddenly an angel^(C) of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.^(D)

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹ Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.^{(E) 10} They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,^(F) and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself^(G) and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me^(H) from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹² When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,^(I) where many people had gathered and were praying.^{(J) 13} Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.^{(K) 14} When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed^(L) she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”^(M)

¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand^(N) for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James^(O) and the other brothers and sisters^(P) about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

¹⁸ In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.^(Q)

Herod’s Death

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea^(R) and stayed there.