Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison
1It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Herod’s Death
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.
21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from12:25 Some manuscripts to Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
希律王的暴行
1那時，希律王下手殘害教會的一些人， 2下令殺了約翰的哥哥雅各。 3他見這樣做能取悅猶太人，便又在除酵節期間拘捕了彼得， 4把他關在監牢，由四班衛兵，每班四人輪流看守，想等逾越節12·4 除酵節為期七天，逾越節是其中的第一天，參見出埃及記12章。過後當眾懲辦他。 5彼得被囚期間，教會都迫切地為他向上帝禱告。
彼得神奇出獄
6在被希律提審前夜，彼得被兩條鐵鏈鎖著睡在兩個衛兵中間，門外警衛森嚴。 7忽然，有一位主的天使站在彼得身旁，牢房內一片光明，天使拍他的肋旁，把他叫醒，說：「趕快起來！」鐵鏈就從他手上脫落下來。 8天使對他說：「束上腰帶，穿上鞋。」彼得一一照辦。天使又說：「披上外衣，跟我來！」 9他跟著天使走出牢房，不知道這一切都是真的，還以為自己看到了異象。 10他們一路穿過第一道和第二道守衛，來到通往城裡的鐵門，那門竟自動打開了。他們就出來，走過一條街之後，天使便離開了彼得。
11彼得這才如夢初醒，說：「現在我確信無疑，主派天使把我從希律手中救了出來，讓猶太人期望落空。」 12他明白之後，便去約翰·馬可的母親瑪麗亞家，很多人正聚集在那裡禱告。
13彼得在外面敲門，有一個叫羅大的婢女出來應門。 14她聽出是彼得的聲音，喜出望外，竟然沒有開門就跑進去報信說：「彼得在門外！」 15他們說：「你一定瘋了。」她堅持說：「是真的！」他們就說：「是他的天使吧！」
16彼得不住地敲門。他們開門看見他，都大吃一驚！ 17彼得擺手示意他們安靜，然後把主怎樣領他出獄的經過告訴大家，又說：「把這事告訴雅各和其他弟兄姊妹。」然後，他便離開那裡，往其他地方去了。
18天亮後，衛兵發現彼得不見了，頓時一片騷動。 19希律派人四處搜捕，一無所獲，於是親自審問衛兵，下令處決他們。後來希律離開猶太，下到凱撒利亞，並住在那裡。
希律的下場
20希律對泰爾和西頓的人非常惱火。於是，他們聯合起來去見他，先取得宮廷總管伯拉斯都的支持，然後向他求和，因為他們兩地需要從他的轄區獲得糧食。
21到了約定的日子，希律穿上王袍，坐在寶座上向眾人致詞。 22眾人齊聲高呼：「這是神明的聲音，不是凡人的聲音！」 23希律沒有把榮耀歸給上帝，主的天使立刻擊打他，他被蟲子啃噬而亡。
24上帝的道日見興旺，越傳越廣。
25巴拿巴和掃羅把款項送到以後，就帶著約翰·馬可從耶路撒冷回去。
