12:1 During that same time King Herod [C Agrippa I, who lived 10 bc–ad 44; he was the grandson of Herod the Great (Luke 1:5)] ·began to mistreat [L laid hands on to harm/do evil to] some who belonged to the church.
12:2 He ordered James, the brother of John, to be killed by the sword [C execution by beheading].
12:3 Herod saw that ·some of the people liked this [L this pleased the Jews/Jewish leaders], so he decided to arrest Peter, too. (This happened during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)
12:4 After Herod ·arrested [seized] Peter, he put him in ·jail [prison] and handed him over to be guarded by ·sixteen [L four squads of four] soldiers. Herod planned to bring Peter ·before the people for trial [L to the people; C an idiom for a public trial] after the Passover Feast.
12:5 So Peter was kept in ·jail [prison], but the church prayed earnestly to God for him.
12:6 The night before Herod was to bring him ·to trial [L out; C either for trial or for execution], Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Other soldiers were guarding the door of the jail.
12:7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shined in the cell. The angel ·struck [tapped; poked] Peter on the side and woke him up. “Hurry! Get up!” the angel said. And the chains fell off Peter’s ·hands [wrists].
12:8 Then the angel told him, “·Get dressed [or Put on your belt] and put on your sandals.” And Peter did. Then the angel said, “·Put on your coat [L Wrap your coat/cloak around you] and follow me.”
12:9 So Peter followed him out, but he did not know if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he might be seeing a vision.
12:10 They went past the first and second guards and came to the iron gate that ·separated them from [L led to] the city. The gate opened by itself for them, and they went through it. When they had walked down one street, the angel suddenly left him.
12:11 Then Peter ·realized what had happened [came to himself]. He thought, “Now I know that the Lord really sent his angel to me. He rescued me ·from [L from the hands of] Herod and from all the things the [L Jewish] people thought would happen.”
12:12 When he ·considered [realized] this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John [L who was also called] Mark [12:25; 13:5; 15:37; Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24; 1 Pet. 5:13]. Many people were gathered there, praying.
12:13 Peter knocked on the ·outside door [or courtyard gate], and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it.
12:14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy she forgot to open the ·door [gate]. Instead, she ran inside and told the group, “Peter is at the ·door [gate]!”
12:15 They said to her, “You are ·crazy [insane; mad]!” But she kept on ·saying [insisting] it was true, so they said, “It must be Peter’s angel.”
12:16 [L But; Meanwhile] Peter continued to knock, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were ·amazed [astonished].
12:17 Peter ·made a sign [motioned] with his hand to tell them to be quiet. He ·explained [recounted] how the Lord led him out of the ·jail [prison], and he said, “Tell James [C not the son of Zebedee (who had been executed, 12:2), but the half-brother of Jesus, who would become the senior leader in the Jerusalem church; 15:13–21; 21:18] and the other ·believers [L brothers] what happened.” Then he left to go to another place.
12:18 The next ·day [or morning] ·the soldiers were very upset [L there was no small commotion among the soldiers; C soldiers who allowed a prisoner to escape would suffer the prisoner’s punishment] and wondered what had happened to Peter.
12:19 Herod ·looked [searched] everywhere for him but could not find him. So he questioned the guards and ordered that they be ·killed [L led away; C presumably to be executed]. Later Herod ·moved [or took a trip] from Judea and went to the city of Caesarea, where he stayed.
12:20 Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon [C major cities on the Phoenician coast north of Israel], but the people of those cities all ·came in a group [or agreed together to come] to him. After convincing Blastus, the ·king’s personal servant [chamberlain; L one in charge of his bedroom], to ·be on their side [or support their position], they asked Herod for peace, because their country got its food from his country.
12:21 On ·a chosen [an appointed] day Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his ·throne [judgment seat; rostrum; platform], and made a speech to the people.
12:22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not a human!”
12:23 Because Herod did not give the glory to God, an angel of the Lord immediately ·caused him to become sick [L struck him down], and he was ·eaten [or infected] by worms [C perhaps intestinal roundworms] and died.
12:24 God’s ·message [word] continued to spread and reach people.
12:25 After Barnabas and Saul finished their ·task in Jerusalem [mission], they returned to Antioch, taking John [L also called] Mark with them.
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