noyes Acts:12:1-19 SEEK
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Now about that time ,
Herod the king laid his hands upon certain of the church ,
to oppress them .
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And he slew James ,
the brother of John ,
with the sword .
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And seeing that it pleased the Jews ,
he proceeded to apprehend Peter also ; (
then were the days of unleavened bread ;)
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and he seized him and put him in prison ,
and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him ;
intending after the passover to bring him forth to the people .
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Peter therefore was kept guarded in prison ;
but earnest prayer was made by the church to God in his behalf .
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And when Herod was about to bring him forth ,
on that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers ,
bound with two chains ,
and keepers before the door were guarding the prison .
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And lo !
an angel of the Lord came to him ,
and a light shone in the room ;
and he smote Peter on the side ,
and roused him ,
saying ,
Rise up quickly .
And his chains fell from his hands .
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And the angel said to him ,
Gird thyself ,
and bind on thy sandals ;
and he did so .
And he saith to him ,
Throw thy garment round thee ,
and follow me .
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And he went out ,
and followed ;
and he knew not that what was done by the angel was real ,
but thought he saw a vision .
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And when they had passed the first ,
and the second guard ,
they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city ,
which opened to them of itself ;
and they went out and passed on through one street ,
and the angel immediately departed from him .
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And when Peter had come to himself ,
he said ,
Now I know certainly ,
that the Lord hath sent forth his angel ,
and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod ,
and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews .
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And when he understood the matter ,
he came to the house of Mary the mother of John ,
surnamed Mark ,
where many were gathered together ,
and praying .
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And as he knocked at the door of the gate ,
a maid
servant came to listen ,
named Rhoda ;
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and recognizing Peter
s voice ,
she opened not the gate for gladness ;
but ran in ,
and told them that Peter was standing before the gate .
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And they said to her ,
Thou art mad .
But she positively affirmed that it was even so .
Then they said ,
It is his angel .
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But Peter continued knocking ;
and opening the door ,
they saw him ,
and were amazed .
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But beckoning to them with his hand to be silent ,
he related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison .
And he said ,
Go and tell these things to James ,
and to the brethren .
And he departed ,
and went to another place .
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And when it was day ,
there was no small commotion among the soldiers ,
as to what had become of Peter .
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And Herod ,
when he had sought for him and found him not ,
examined the keepers ,
and commanded that they should be led away .
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea ,
and there abode .