Chapter 12

1Around that time, King Herod started going after some of the church people. Another Herod. Lot of Herods. All bad. Terrible family.

2He had James, John's brother, killed with a sword. A good man. A very good man.

3When he saw that the Jewish leaders liked it, he went and arrested Peter too. Polling. He did it for the polls. This was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

4He put him in prison, guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Sixteen guards. For one fisherman. He was scared of Peter. Very scared. He planned to put him on trial in public after Passover. A show trial.

5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying for him hard. Constantly. Nonstop.

6The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, chained up with two chains, and guards at the door watching the prison. Sleeping. Facing a show trial and sleeping like a baby. No fear. That's the kind of people I like.

7Suddenly an angel of the boss showed up, and a light lit up the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell right off his wrists.

8The angel said, “Get dressed. Put on your sandals.” Peter did. “Throw on your coat and follow me.” Dress properly. Even for a prison break.

9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea it was really happening. He thought he was dreaming.

10They walked past the first guard and the second, and came to the iron gate that leads into the city. It opened all by itself, and they walked through. They went down one street, and then the angel was gone.

11Then Peter came to and said, “Now I know for sure the boss sent his angel to get me out of Herod's hands and away from everything the Jewish leaders were hoping for.” Total victory. Herod lost. Badly.

12Once he realized what happened, he went to the house of Mary, John Mark's mother. A lot of people were gathered there praying.

13Peter knocked on the outer door, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

14She recognized Peter's voice and was so excited she ran back in without opening the door. “Peter's at the door!” Left him standing outside. With a manhunt going on.

15“You're crazy,” they told her. When she kept insisting, they said, “It must be his angel.” They'd been praying for him to get out and didn't believe it when he did. Low-energy faith.

16But Peter kept knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were stunned.

17He motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and told them how the boss had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the brothers,” he said. Then he left for somewhere else. Undisclosed location. Very smart.

18In the morning, there was a huge commotion among the soldiers. What happened to Peter? Where'd he go?

19Herod had a full search done and couldn't find him. So he questioned the guards and had them executed. Blame the guards. Always blame somebody. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

20Herod had been fighting with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came to him together, got Blastus, the king's personal aide, on their side, and asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food. Trade deal. Herod had all the leverage.

21On the appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and gave a speech.

22The crowd shouted, “That's the voice of a god, not a man!” Big applause line. He loved it.

23And immediately, because he took the credit and didn't give the praise to God, an angel of the boss struck him down. He got eaten by worms and died. You don't steal the boss's applause. Never. Not even once.

24But God's message kept spreading and growing. Bigger and bigger.

25When Barnabas and Saul finished their mission, they came back from Jerusalem and brought John, also called Mark, with them. Mark. Remember Mark. Mark's going to quit on them. Big story.