Acts:12

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* At that time Herod the king caught some of the church people and troubled them . * He killed James the brother of John with a long knife or sword . * He saw that this pleased the leaders of the Jews , so he caught Peter also . This happened at the Jewish feast which they had each year to remember leaving Egypt . (It was called the Passover Feast .) * After Herod had caught Peter , he put him in prison . He told four groups of soldiers to guard him . There were four soldiers in each group . He planned to bring him out for trial before the people . But he would do it after the Passover Feast . * So Peter was kept in prison . And the church people asked God to help him . * The night before Herod was going to bring him out , Peter was sleeping between two soldiers . He was tied to them with two chains . Guards were at the door of the prison . * An angel from the Lord came to him and a light shone in the prison . He hit Peters side and woke him up . Be quick , he said . Get up ! His chains fell off his hands . * Put on your belt and your shoes , said the angel . Peter did so . And now , said the angel , put on your coat and follow me . * Peter followed him out . He did not know that what the angel had done was true . He thought he was dreaming . * They passed the first and the second guard . Then they came to the iron gate out to the city . It opened for them by itself . So they went all the way down a street . Then the angel left him . * When Peter came to himself , he said , Now I know truly that the Lord has sent his angel . He has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish leaders are hoping will happen to me . * And when he thought about this , he went to Marys house . Mary was John Marks mother . Many people were meeting there , talking to God &lt ;FI &gt ;about Peter &lt ;Fi &gt ;. * Peter knocked at the outside door . A young servant woman named Rhoda went to answer . * When she knew it was Peters voice , she was very glad . She did not open the door . But she ran in and told the people that Peter was at the door . * They said , You are crazy . But she kept on saying that Peter was really there . Then they said , It must be his angel . * Peter kept on knocking . When they opened the door and saw him , they were very much surprised . * He put out his hand for them to be quiet . Then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison . He said , Tell James and the brothers about this . Then he went away to another place . * In the morning the soldiers tried hard to find Peter . * Herod had looked for him and had not found him . So he questioned the guards and ordered them to be taken away and killed . And then Peter went from Judea to Caesarea to live for a while . * Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon . But they got Blastus to speak to the king for them . Blastus was one of the men who worked in the kings house . They came to Herod together . They wanted to make peace with him because their country got its food from his country . * On a certain day Herod put on his kings robes and sat on his chair and made a speech . * The people shouted , A god is talking to us . He is not a man . * At once an angel from God put a bad sickness on Herod because he did not give God the praise . Worms ate him and he died . * The word of God spread further and further and more people believed . * Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had finished their work . They brought John Mark with them .

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