Acts 12 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Around that time, King Herod arrested some people from the gathered community to terrorize them.

He had James — John's brother — executed by sword.

When Herod saw that this pleased the Jewish leaders, he went further and arrested Peter too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

After arresting Peter, Herod threw him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He planned to put Peter on public trial after the Passover festival.

So Peter sat in prison while the gathered community prayed to God for him with fierce intensity.

The night before Herod was going to bring Peter to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, chained to both of them, while guards stood watch at the prison entrance.

Suddenly an angel from God appeared and light flooded the cell. The angel shook Peter awake, saying, "Quick — get up!" And the chains fell right off Peter's wrists.

The angel told him, "Get dressed and put your sandals on." Peter did. Then the angel said, "Throw on your coat and follow me."

Peter followed the angel out, but he didn't realize any of this was actually happening — he thought he was seeing a vision.

They passed the first guard post, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading into the city. It swung open on its own. They walked through it, went down one street, and then — just like that — the angel was gone.

When Peter finally snapped out of it, he said, "Now I know for sure — God sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's grip and from everything the Jewish leaders were hoping to do to me."

Once he figured out what had happened, he went to the house of Mary — the mother of John Mark — where a large group had gathered and were praying.

Peter knocked on the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

She recognized Peter's voice, and she was so excited that instead of opening the gate, she ran back inside and announced, "Peter is standing at the gate!"

"You're out of your mind," they told her. But she kept insisting it was true. So they said, "It must be his angel."

Meanwhile, Peter kept knocking. When they finally opened the gate and saw him, they were absolutely stunned.

Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet, then explained how God had led him out of the prison. He said, "Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this." Then he left and went somewhere else.

When morning came, there was complete chaos among the soldiers — what on earth had happened to Peter?

Herod launched a search for Peter, but couldn't find him. So he interrogated the guards and ordered them executed. After that, Herod left Judea and went down to Caesarea, where he stayed.

Now Herod had been furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came to him together as a group, and after winning over Blastus — the king's personal assistant — they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king's territory for food.

On the appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and gave a public speech to them.

The crowd began shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not a man!"

Immediately, an angel from God struck Herod down because he accepted the worship instead of giving credit to God. He was eaten by worms and died.

But God's message kept spreading and gaining more and more followers.

Barnabas and Saul finished their relief mission and returned from Jerusalem, bringing along John Mark.