1Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. 6And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. 7And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. 10When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. 11And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. 12And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. 16But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. 17But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. 18Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. 19And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judæa to Cæsarea, and there abode.
20¶ And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country. 21And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
24¶ But the word of God grew and multiplied. 25And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.
ጴጥሮስ ከእስር ቤት በታምር ወጣ
1በዚያ ዘመን ንጉሡ ሄሮድስ አንዳንድ የቤተ ክርስቲያን አባላትን እያሳደደ ያስጨንቅ ነበር፤ 2የዮሐንስንም ወንድም ያዕቆብን በሰይፍ አስገደለ። 3ይህ አድራጎቱ አይሁድን ደስ እንዳሰኛቸው ባየ ጊዜ፣ ጴጥሮስን ደግሞ አስያዘው፤ ይህም የሆነው በቂጣ በዓል ሰሞን ነበር። 4ጴጥሮስን ወህኒ ቤት ካስገባው በኋላ፣ አራት አራት ወታደሮች እየሆኑ እንዲጠብቁት በአራት ፈረቃ ለተመደቡ ወታደሮች አስረከበው፤ ይህን ያደረገውም የፋሲካ በዓል ካለፈ በኋላ ሕዝብ ፊት አውጥቶ ሊያስፈርድበት አስቦ ነው።
5ጴጥሮስም በዚህ መሠረት እስር ቤት ተጣለ፤ ቤተ ክርስቲያኒቱ ግን ስለ እርሱ አጥብቃ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ትጸልይ ነበር።
6ሄሮድስም ጴጥሮስን ሕዝቡ ፊት ሊያቀርበው አስቦ ሳለ፣ ጴጥሮስ በዚያው ሌሊት በሁለት ሰንሰለት ታስሮ፣ ከሁለት ወታደሮች መካከል ተኝቶ ነበር፤ የወህኒ ቤት ጠባቂዎችም እስር ቤቱ በር ላይ ቆመው ነበር። 7የጌታ መልአክም ድንገት ታየ፤ በክፍሉም ውስጥ ብርሃን በራ፤ መልአኩም የጴጥሮስን ጐን መታ አድርጎ ቀሰቀሰውና፣ “ቶሎ ተነሣ!” አለው፤ በዚህ ጊዜ ሰንሰለቶቹ ከእጆቹ ወደቁ።
8መልአኩም፣ “ልብስህን ልበስ፤ ጫማህንም አድርግ” አለው። ጴጥሮስም እንደ ታዘዘው አደረገ። መልአኩም ቀጥሎ፣ “መደረቢያህን ከላይ ጣል አድርገህ ተከተለኝ” አለው። 9ጴጥሮስም ተከትሎት ከእስር ቤት ወጣ፤ ነገር ግን ራእይ የሚያይ መሰለው እንጂ መልአኩ የሚያደርገው ነገር በእውን መሆኑን አላወቀም ነበር። 10የመጀመሪያውንና ሁለተኛውን ዘብ ዐልፈው ወደ ከተማዪቱ በሚወስደው መንገድ ላይ ወዳለው የብረት መዝጊያ ዘንድ ደረሱ። መዝጊያውም ራሱ ዐውቆ ተከፈተላቸው፤ እነርሱም ወጥተው ሄዱ፤ አንዲት ስላች መንገድ እንዳለፉም ወዲያው መልአኩ ተለየው።
11ጴጥሮስም ሲረጋጋ፣ “ጌታ መልአኩን ልኮ ከሄሮድስ እጅና አይሁድ ካሰቡብኝ ሁሉ እንዳወጣኝ አሁን ያለ ጥርጥር ዐወቅሁ” አለ።
12ይህን ከተረዳ በኋላም፣ ብዙ ሰዎች ተሰብስበው በአንድነት ወደሚጸልዩበት፣ ማርቆስ ወደተባለው ወደ ዮሐንስ እናት ወደ ማርያም ቤት ሄደ። 13እዚያ ደርሶ የውጭውን በር ባንኳኳ ጊዜ፣ ሮዳ የተባለች አንዲት የቤት ሠራተኛ ማን እንደ ሆነ ለማጣራት ወደ በሩ ሄደች። 14የጴጥሮስ ድምፅ መሆኑንም ባወቀች ጊዜ፣ በጣም ከመደሰቷ የተነሣ በሩን ሳትከፍት ሮጣ በመመለስ፣ ጴጥሮስ በሩ ላይ ቆሞ እንደሚገኝ ተናገረች።
15ሰዎቹም፣ “አብደሻል እንዴ!” አሏት፤ እርሷ ግን ይህንኑ ደጋግማ በነገረቻቸው ጊዜ፣ “እንግዲያውስ የእርሱ መልአክ ነው” አሉ።
16ጴጥሮስ ግን በር ማንኳኳቱን ቀጠለ፤ እነርሱም በሩን ከፍተው ባዩት ጊዜ ተገረሙ። 17እርሱም ዝም እንዲሉ በእጁ ጠቅሶ፣ ጌታ ከእስር ቤት እንዴት እንዳወጣው አስረዳቸው፣ “ስለ ሁኔታው ለያዕቆብና ለወንድሞች ንገሯቸው” አላቸው፤ ከዚያም ወደ ሌላ ስፍራ ሄደ።
18በማግስቱም ጧት ወታደሮቹ፣ “ጴጥሮስ የት ገባ?” እያሉ በመካከላቸው ትልቅ ትርምስ ተፈጠረ። 19ሄሮድስም ጴጥሮስን አስፈልጎ ባጣው ጊዜ፣ ዘብ ጠባቂዎቹን በጥብቅ ከመረመረ በኋላ እንዲገደሉ አዘዘ።
የሄሮድስ አሟሟት
ከዚያም ሄሮድስ ከይሁዳ ወደ ቂሳርያ ወርዶ እዚያ ተቀመጠ። 20እርሱም ከጢሮስና ከሲዶና ሰዎች ጋር ጥለኛ ነበር፤ አገራቸው ምግብ የሚያገኘው ከንጉሡ ግዛት ስለ ነበር፣ የንጉሡን ባለሟል የብላስጦስን ድጋፍ ካገኙ በኋላ፣ አንድ ላይ ሆነው ከንጉሡ ጋር ለመታረቅ ጠየቁ።
21በቀጠሮውም ቀን ሄሮድስ ልብሰ መንግሥቱን ለብሶ በዙፋኑ ላይ ተቀመጠ፤ ለሕዝቡም ንግግር አደረገ። 22ሕዝቡም፣ “ይህስ የአምላክ ድምፅ እንጂ የሰው አይደለም” ብለው ጮኹ። 23ሄሮድስም ለእግዚአብሔር ክብር ስላልሰጠ የጌታ መልአክ ወዲያው መታው፤ በትልም ተበልቶ ሞተ።
24የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ግን እያደገና እየሰፋ ሄደ።
25በርናባስና ሳውልም ተልእኳቸውን ፈጽመው ከኢየሩሳሌም12፥25 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ይላሉ። ተመለሱ፤ ማርቆስ የተባለውን ዮሐንስንም ከእነርሱ ጋር ይዘውት መጡ።
