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Greek: New Testament (NAS)
English: John Barach
Chapter 12
Herod Persecutes the Apostles
1  Κατ' ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐπέβαλεν Ἡρῴδης ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰς χεῖρας κακῶσαί τινας τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. 2  ἀνεῖλεν δὲ Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννου μαχαίρῃ. 3  ἰδὼν δὲ ὅτι ἀρεστόν ἐστιν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, προσέθετο συλλαβεῖν καὶ Πέτρον,— ἦσαν δὲ [αἱ] ἡμέραι τῶν ἀζύμων — 4  ὃν καὶ πιάσας ἔθετο εἰς φυλακὴν παραδοὺς τέσσαρσιν τετραδίοις στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, βουλόμενος μετὰ τὸ πάσχα ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ. 5  ὁ μὲν οὖν Πέτρος ἐτηρεῖτο ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ· προσευχὴ δὲ ἦν ἐκτενῶς γινομένῃ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας πρὸς τὸν θεὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ.
1Now about that time, Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church to mistreat them. 2He executed James, the brother of John, with a sword. 3Seeing that this was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well (this was during the Days of Unleavened Bread). 4After seizing him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer to God was being made fervently by the church on his behalf.
Peter’s Miraculous Deliverance
6  Ὅτε δὲ ἤμελλεν προσαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ὁ Ἡρῴδης, τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ ἦν ὁ Πέτρος κοιμώμενος μεταξὺ δύο στρατιωτῶν δεδεμένος ἁλύσεσιν δυσὶν φύλακές τε πρὸ τῆς θύρας ἐτήρουν τὴν φυλακήν. 7  καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐπέστη καὶ φῶς ἔλαμψεν ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι· πατάξας δὲ τὴν πλευρὰν τοῦ Πέτρου ἤγειρεν αὐτὸν λέγων, ἀνάστα ἐν τάχει. καὶ ἐξέπεσαν αὐτοῦ αἱ ἁλύσεις ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν. 8  εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς αὐτόν, ζῶσαι καὶ ὑπόδησαι τὰ σανδάλιά σου. ἐποίησεν δὲ οὕτως. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, περιβαλοῦ τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου καὶ ἀκολούθει μοι.
6On the very night before Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards before the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7And behold, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell from his hands. 8Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
9  καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἠκολούθει καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ἀληθές ἐστιν τὸ γινόμενον διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου· ἐδόκει δὲ ὅραμα βλέπειν. 10  διελθόντες δὲ πρώτην φυλακὴν καὶ δευτέραν ἦλθαν ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τὴν σιδηρᾶν τὴν φέρουσαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ἥτις αὐτομάτη ἠνοίγη αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐξελθόντες προῆλθον ῥύμην μίαν, καὶ εὐθέως ἀπέστη ὁ ἄγγελος ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. 11  καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἐν ἑαυτῷ γενόμενος εἶπεν, νῦν οἶδα ἀληθῶς ὅτι ἐξαπέστειλεν [ὁ] κύριος τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξείλατό με ἐκ χειρὸς Ἡρῴδου καὶ πάσης τῆς προσδοκίας τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
9Peter went out and followed him, yet he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10Having passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened for them of its own accord. Going out, they went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectations of the Jewish people.”
The Response at Mary’s House
12  συνιδών τε ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Μάρκου, οὗ ἦσαν ἱκανοὶ συνηθροισμένοι καὶ προσευχόμενοι. 13  κρούσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν θύραν τοῦ πυλῶνος προσῆλθεν παιδίσκη ὑπακοῦσαι ὀνόματι Ῥόδη, 14  καὶ ἐπιγνοῦσα τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ Πέτρου ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς οὐκ ἤνοιξεν τὸν πυλῶνα, εἰσδραμοῦσα δὲ ἀπήγγειλεν ἑστάναι τὸν Πέτρον πρὸ τοῦ πυλῶνος. 15  οἱ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν εἶπαν, μαίνῃ. ἡ δὲ διϊσχυρίζετο οὕτως ἔχειν. οἱ δὲ ἔλεγον, ὁ ἄγγελός ἐστιν αὐτοῦ.
12Realizing this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John (who was also called Mark), where a large number were gathered and praying. 13When he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14Recognizing Peter’s voice, out of sheer joy she did not open the gate, but ran inside and reported that Peter was standing at the gateway. 15They said to her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”
16  ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἐπέμενεν κρούων ἀνοίξαντες δὲ εἶδαν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐξέστησαν. 17  κατασείσας δὲ αὐτοῖς τῇ χειρὶ σιγᾶν διηγήσατο [αὐτοῖς] πῶς ὁ κύριος αὐτὸν ἐξήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς εἶπέν τε, ἀπαγγείλατε Ἰακώβῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ταῦτα. καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἐπορεύθη εἰς ἕτερον τόπον.
16But Peter continued knocking. When they opened it, they saw him and were astonished. 17Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. He said, “Report these things to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.
18  Γενομένης δὲ ἡμέρας ἦν τάραχος οὐκ ὀλίγος ἐν τοῖς στρατιώταις τί ἄρα ὁ Πέτρος ἐγένετο. 19  Ἡρῴδης δὲ ἐπιζητήσας αὐτὸν καὶ μὴ εὑρών, ἀνακρίνας τοὺς φύλακας ἐκέλευσεν ἀπαχθῆναι, καὶ κατελθὼν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας εἰς Καισάρειαν διέτριβεν.
18When day came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered them to be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
The Death of Herod Agrippa
20  Ἦν δὲ θυμομαχῶν Τυρίοις καὶ Σιδωνίοις· ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ παρῆσαν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ πείσαντες Βλάστον, τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως, ᾐτοῦντο εἰρήνην διὰ τὸ τρέφεσθαι αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς. 21  τακτῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἐνδυσάμενος ἐσθῆτα βασιλικὴν [καὶ] καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐδημηγόρει πρὸς αὐτούς, 22  ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐπεφώνει, θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου.
20Now Herod was in a state of furious hostility toward the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him with one mind, and after winning over Blastus, the king’s personal chamberlain, they began asking for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for its food supply. 21On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, sat down upon the judgment seat, and began delivering a public address to them. 22And the people kept shouting out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
23  παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος κυρίου ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἔδωκεν τὴν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος ἐξέψυξεν.
23Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God; and having been eaten by worms, he breathed his last.
The Word Prevails
24  Ὁ δὲ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ηὔξανεν καὶ ἐπληθύνετο. 25  Βαρναβᾶς δὲ καὶ Σαῦλος ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ πληρώσαντες τὴν διακονίαν, συμπαραλαβόντες Ἰωάννην τὸν ἐπικληθέντα Μᾶρκον.
24But the word of God continued to grow and multiply. 25And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their mission of service, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.