Acts 12

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James Killed, Peter Imprisoned

¹Κατ’ ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐπέβαλεν Ἡρῴδης ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰς χεῖρας κακῶσαί τινας τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας

¹About that time, King Herod^a reached out to harm^b some who belonged to the church.

²ἀνεῖλεν δὲ Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννου μαχαίρῃ

²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

³ἰδὼν δὲ ὅτι ἀρεστόν ἐστιν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προσέθετο συλλαβεῖν καὶ Πέτρον ἦσαν δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἀζύμων

³And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.^a

⁴ὃν καὶ πιάσας ἔθετο εἰς φυλακήν παραδοὺς τέσσαρσιν τετραδίοις στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν αὐτόν βουλόμενος μετὰ τὸ πάσχα ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ

⁴He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

The Rescue of Peter

⁵Ὁ μὲν οὖν Πέτρος ἐτηρεῖτο ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ προσευχὴ δὲ ἦν ἐκτενῶς γινομένη ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

⁶Ὅτε δὲ ἤμελλεν προαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ὁ Ἡρῴδης τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ ἦν ὁ Πέτρος κοιμώμενος μεταξὺ δύο στρατιωτῶν δεδεμένος ἁλύσεσιν δυσίν φύλακές τε πρὸ τῆς θύρας ἐτήρουν τὴν φυλακήν

⁶On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.

⁷καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐπέστη καὶ φῶς ἔλαμψεν ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι πατάξας δὲ τὴν πλευρὰν τοῦ Πέτρου ἤγειρεν αὐτὸν λέγων Ἀνάστα ἐν τάχει καὶ ἐξέπεσαν αὐτοῦ αἱ ἁλύσεις ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς αὐτόν Ζῶσαι καὶ ὑπόδησαι τὰ σανδάλιά σου ἐποίησεν δὲ οὕτως καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ Περιβαλοῦ τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου καὶ ἀκολούθει μοι

⁸“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹Καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἠκολούθει καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ἀληθές ἐστιν τὸ γινόμενον διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἐδόκει δὲ ὅραμα βλέπειν

⁹So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.

¹⁰διελθόντες δὲ πρώτην φυλακὴν καὶ δευτέραν ἦλθαν ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τὴν σιδηρᾶν τὴν φέρουσαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἥτις αὐτομάτη ἠνοίγη αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐξελθόντες προῆλθον ῥύμην μίαν καὶ εὐθέως ἀπέστη ὁ ἄγγελος ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ

¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹Καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἐν ἑαυτῷ γενόμενος εἶπεν Νῦν οἶδα ἀληθῶς ὅτι ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Κύριος τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξείλατό με ἐκ χειρὸς Ἡρῴδου καὶ πάσης τῆς προσδοκίας τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

¹²Συνιδών τε ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Μάρκου οὗ ἦσαν ἱκανοὶ συνηθροισμένοι καὶ προσευχόμενοι

¹²And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.

¹³κρούσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν θύραν τοῦ πυλῶνος προσῆλθεν παιδίσκη ὑπακοῦσαι ὀνόματι Ῥόδη

¹³He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it.

¹⁴καὶ ἐπιγνοῦσα τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ Πέτρου ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς οὐκ ἤνοιξεν τὸν πυλῶνα εἰσδραμοῦσα δὲ ἀπήγγειλεν ἑστάναι τὸν Πέτρον πρὸ τοῦ πυλῶνος

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!”

¹⁵Οἱ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν εἶπαν Μαίνῃ ἡ δὲ διϊσχυρίζετο οὕτως ἔχειν οἱ δὲ ἔλεγον Ὁ ἄγγελός ἐστιν αὐτοῦ

¹⁵“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἐπέμενεν κρούων ἀνοίξαντες δὲ εἶδαν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐξέστησαν

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.

¹⁷κατασείσας δὲ αὐτοῖς τῇ χειρὶ σιγᾶν διηγήσατο αὐτοῖς πῶς ὁ Κύριος αὐτὸν ἐξήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς εἶπέν τε Ἀπαγγείλατε Ἰακώβῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ταῦτα καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἐπορεύθη εἰς ἕτερον τόπον

¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

¹⁸Γενομένης δὲ ἡμέρας ἦν τάραχος οὐκ ὀλίγος ἐν τοῖς στρατιώταις τί ἄρα ὁ Πέτρος ἐγένετο

¹⁸At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

¹⁹Ἡρῴδης δὲ ἐπιζητήσας αὐτὸν καὶ μὴ εὑρὼν ἀνακρίνας τοὺς φύλακας ἐκέλευσεν ἀπαχθῆναι καὶ κατελθὼν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας εἰς Καισάρειαν διέτριβεν

¹⁹After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Ἦν δὲ θυμομαχῶν Τυρίοις καὶ Σιδωνίοις ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ παρῆσαν πρὸς αὐτόν καὶ πείσαντες Βλάστον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως ᾐτοῦντο εἰρήνην διὰ τὸ τρέφεσθαι αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς

²⁰Now Herod was in a furious dispute^a with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.

²¹τακτῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἐνδυσάμενος ἐσθῆτα βασιλικὴν καὶ καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐδημηγόρει πρὸς αὐτούς

²¹On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people.

²²ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐπεφώνει Θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου

²²And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”

²³Παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἀνθ’ ὧν οὐκ ἔδωκεν τὴν δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος ἐξέψυξεν

²³Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴Ὁ δὲ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ηὔξανεν καὶ ἐπληθύνετο

²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

²⁵Βαρνάβας δὲ καὶ Σαῦλος ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ πληρώσαντες τὴν διακονίαν συμπαραλαβόντες Ἰωάννην τὸν ἐπικληθέντα Μάρκον

²⁵When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, they returned,^a bringing with them John, also called Mark.