Acts 12 (NMV)
1 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church,
2 and he executed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread.
4 After arresting him, he put him in prison and handed him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching the prison.
7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, the angel woke him and said, "Get up quickly!" And the chains fell off his wrists.
8 The angel said to him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." And he did. "Wrap your cloak around yourself," the angel told him, "and follow me."
9 So he went out and followed, but he didn't realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening, he thought he was seeing a vision.
10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself. They went outside and walked the length of one street, and suddenly the angel left him.
11 When Peter came to his senses, he said, "Now I truly know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod's grasp and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."
12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is also called Mark, where many had gathered and were praying.
13 He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
14 She recognized Peter's voice, and because of her joy she didn't open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.
15 "You're out of your mind!" they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, "It must be his angel."
16 Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
17 Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he explained how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell these things to James and the brothers," he said, and then he left and went to another place.
18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
19 After Herod searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20 Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they came to him, and after winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king's bedroom, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king's country for food.
21 On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them.
22 The people shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"
23 Immediately, because he did not give the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down. He was overcome with internal decay and parasitic infestation, and he died.
24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
25 After they had completed their mission, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John, who was also called Mark.