Acts 12-13

English Standard Version

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ² He killed ^(A)James the brother of John ^(B)with the sword, ³ and when he saw ^(C)that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during ^(D)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ And when he had seized him, he put him ^(E)in prison, delivering him over to four ^(F)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest ^(G)prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Peter Is Rescued

⁶ Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(H)bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(I)an angel of the Lord ^(J)stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. ^(K)He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(L)the chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and ^(M)put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but ^(N)thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. ^(O)It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(P)came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that ^(Q)the Lord has sent his angel and ^(R)rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(S)John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(T)were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, ^(U)a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ Recognizing Peter's voice, ^(V)in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is ^(W)his angel!” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(X)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to ^(Y)James and to ^(Z)the brothers.”^[a] Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ^(AA)ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰ Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and ^(AB)having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain,^[b] they asked for peace, because ^(AC)their country depended on the king's country for food. ²¹ On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. ²² And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” ²³ Immediately ^(AD)an angel of the Lord struck him down, because ^(AE)he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴ But ^(AF)the word of God increased and multiplied.

^25 (AG)And Barnabas and Saul returned from^[c] Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them ^(AH)John, whose other name was Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

13 Now there were in the church at Antioch ^(AI)prophets and ^(AJ)teachers, ^(AK)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,^[d] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^(AL)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^(AM)the Holy Spirit said, ^(AN)“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^(AO)for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and ^(AP)praying they laid their hands on them and ^(AQ)sent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out ^(AR)by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God ^(AS)in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had ^(AT)John to ^(AU)assist them. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain ^(AV)magician, ^(AW)a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with ^(AX)the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(AY)magician (for that is the meaning of his name) ^(AZ)opposed them, seeking to turn ^(BA)the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also called Paul, ^(BB)filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “You ^(BC)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and ^(BD)villainy, will you not stop ^(BE)making crooked ^(BF)the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, behold, ^(BG)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking ^(BH)people to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at ^(BI)the teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^(BJ)John left them and returned ^(BK)to Jerusalem, ¹⁴ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^(BL)on the Sabbath day ^(BM)they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(BN)the reading from ^(BO)the Law and the Prophets, ^(BP)the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^(BQ)word of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and ^(BR)motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^(BS)you who fear God, listen. ^17 (BT)The God of this people Israel ^(BU)chose our fathers and ^(BV)made the people great ^(BW)during their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^(BX)with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for about ^(BY)forty years ^(BZ)he put up with^[e] them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And ^(CA)after destroying ^(CB)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(CC)he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. And after that ^(CD)he gave them judges until ^(CE)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then ^(CF)they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^(CG)the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(CH)when he had removed him, ^(CI)he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^(CJ)‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ^(CK)a man after my heart, ^(CL)who will do all my will.’ ^23 (CM)Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel ^(CN)a Savior, Jesus, ^(CO)as he promised. ²⁴ Before his coming, ^(CP)John had proclaimed ^(CQ)a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, ^(CR)he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^(CS)who fear God, to us has been sent ^(CT)the message of ^(CU)this salvation. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^(CV)they did not recognize him nor understand ^(CW)the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^(CX)fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸ And ^(CY)though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^(CZ)they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ And when ^(DA)they had carried out all that was written of him, ^(DB)they took him down from ^(DC)the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But ^(DD)God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days ^(DE)he appeared to those ^(DF)who had come up with him ^(DG)from Galilee to Jerusalem, ^(DH)who are now ^(DI)his witnesses to the people. ³² And we bring you the good news ^(DJ)that what God promised to the fathers, ^33 (DK)this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

³⁴ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^(DM)(DN)no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm,

³⁶ For David, after he had ^(DQ)served the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(DR)fell asleep and ^(DS)was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷ but he whom ^(DT)God raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸ Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^(DU)that through this man ^(DV)forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by him ^(DW)everyone who believes is freed^[f] from everything ^(DX)from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴² As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^(DZ)devout ^(EA)converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^(EB)to continue in ^(EC)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ^45 (ED)But ^(EE)when the Jews^[g] saw the crowds, they were filled with ^(EF)jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^(EG)reviling him. ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^(EH)be spoken first to you. ^(EI)Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^(EJ)unworthy of eternal life, behold, we ^(EK)are turning to the Gentiles. ^47 (EL)For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^(EP)glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. ^50 (EQ)But the Jews incited the devout ^(ER)women of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^(ES)stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^(ET)drove them out of their district. ⁵¹ But they ^(EU)shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled ^(EV)with joy and ^(EW)with the Holy Spirit.