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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Acts 12 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/acts/12.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/acts/12-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > Acts 12</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/11.htm" title="Acts 11">◄</a> Acts 12 <a href="../acts/13.htm" title="Acts 13">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/acts/12.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Suddenly an angel 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>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.</p><p class="sectionhead">Herod’s Death</p><p class="reg">Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.</p> <p class="sectionhead">Barnabas and Saul Sent Off</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/12-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts to">a</a></sup></span> Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">25</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some manuscripts <i>to</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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