Outline
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
ACTS 12 NLT
1 About that time King Herod Agrippa began
to persecute some believers in the church.
2 He had the apostle James (John’s
brother) killed with a sword.
3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the
Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover
celebration. )
4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him
under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring
Peter out for public trial after the Passover.
5But while Peter was in prison, the church
prayed very earnestly for him.
6The night before Peter was to be placed on
trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others
stood guard at the prison gate.
7Suddenly, there was a bright light in the
cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the
side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his
wrists.
8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed
and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the
angel ordered.
9 So Peter left the cell, following the
angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was
actually happening.
10 They passed the first and second guard
posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them
all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and
then the angel suddenly left him.
11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s
really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and
from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”
12 When he realized this, he went to the
home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for
prayer.
13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and
a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it.
14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she
was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and
told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When
she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”
16Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they
finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
17 He motioned for them to quiet down and
told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other
brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.
18 At dawn there was a great commotion
among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter.
19 Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search
for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced
them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a
while.
20Now Herod was very angry with the people of
Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their
cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the
support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant,
21 and an appointment with Herod was
granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne,
and made a speech to them.
22 The people gave him a great ovation,
shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”
23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck
Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of
giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.
24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to
spread, and there were many new believers.
25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their
mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them.
