1Nowabout that timeHerod the kinglaidhands on somewhobelonged to the church in order to mistreat them.
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And he 1had James the brother of John2put to death with a sword.
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When he saw that it 3pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrestPeteralso. Now it was during 4the days of Unleavened Bread.
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When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four5squads of soldiers to guard him, intendingafter6the Passover to bring him out before the people.
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SoPeter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was beingmadefervently by the church to God.
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On the verynightwhenHerod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleepingbetweentwosoldiers, 7bound with twochains, and guards in front of the door were watchingover the prison.
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And behold, 8an angel of the Lord suddenly 9appeared and a lightshone in the cell; and he struckPeter'sside and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly." And 10his chainsfelloff his hands.
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And the angelsaid to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he didso. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloakaround you and follow me."
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And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was beingdone by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing11a vision.
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When they had passed the first and secondguard, they came to the irongate that leads into the city, which12opened for them by itself; and they went out and wentalongonestreet, and immediately the angeldeparted from him.
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When Peter13came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that 14the Lord has sentforth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewishpeople were expecting."
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And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of 15John who was also calledMark, wheremany were gatheredtogether and 16were praying.
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When he knocked at the door of the gate, 17a servant-girlnamedRhodacame to answer.
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When she recognizedPeter'svoice, 18because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
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They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, "It is 19his angel."
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But Petercontinuedknocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.
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But 20motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Reportthesethings to 21James and 22the brethren." Then he left and went to anotherplace.
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Now when daycame, there was nosmalldisturbanceamong the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.
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When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they 23be ledaway to execution. Then he wentdown from Judea to 24Caesarea and was spendingtime there.
Death of Herod
20Now he was veryangry with the people of 25Tyre and Sidon; and with oneaccord they came to him, and having wonoverBlastus the king'schamberlain*, they were asking for peace, because26their country was fed by the king's country.
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On an appointeddayHerod, having put on his royalapparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.
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The people kept crying out, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"
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And immediately27an angel of the Lordstruck him because* he did not giveGod the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
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But 28the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
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And 29Barnabas and 30Saulreturned from Jerusalem31when they had fulfilled their mission, takingalong with them 32John, who was also calledMark.