Acts 12
1 Around this time King Herod began to persecute some members of the church.
Κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐπέβαλεν Ἡρῴδης ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰς χεῖρας κακῶσαί τινας τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας.
2 He had James, John's brother, executed by sword.
ἀνεῖλε δὲ Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννου μαχαίρᾳ.
3 When he saw that the Jews were pleased by this, he had Peter arrested too. (This was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)
καὶ ἰδὼν ὅτι ἀρεστόν ἐστι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, προσέθετο συλλαβεῖν καὶ Πέτρον· ἦσαν δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἀζύμων·
4 After having Peter arrested, he threw him in prison, with four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He planned to have Peter brought out for a public trial after the Passover.
ὃν καὶ πιάσας ἔθετο εἰς φυλακήν, παραδοὺς τέσσαρσι τετραδίοις στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, βουλόμενος μετὰ τὸ πάσχα ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ.
5 While Peter was kept in prison the church prayed earnestly to God for him.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Πέτρος ἐτηρεῖτο ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ· προσευχὴ δὲ ἦν ἐκτενὴς γινομένη ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ.
6 The night before Herod was to have him put on trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, chained to each of them, and with guards at the door keeping watch.
Ὅτε δὲ ἔμελλεν αὐτὸν προάγειν ὁ Ἡρῴδης, τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ ἦν ὁ Πέτρος κοιμώμενος μεταξὺ δύο στρατιωτῶν δεδεμένος ἁλύσεσι δυσί, φύλακές τε πρὸ τῆς θύρας ἐτήρουν τὴν φυλακήν.
7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. The angel shook Peter awake, saying “Quick! Get up!” The chains fell from his wrists,
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐπέστη καὶ φῶς ἔλαμψεν ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι· πατάξας δὲ τὴν πλευρὰν τοῦ Πέτρου ἤγειρεν αὐτὸν λέγων· ἀνάστα ἐν τάχει. καὶ ἐξέπεσον αὐτοῦ αἱ ἁλύσεις ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν.
8 and the angel told him, “Get dressed, and put on your sandals.” So he did. Then the angel told him, “Put on your coat and follow me.”
εἶπέ τε ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς αὐτόν· περίζωσαι καὶ ὑπόδησαι τὰ σανδάλιά σου. ἐποίησε δὲ οὕτω. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· περιβαλοῦ τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου καὶ ἀκολούθει μοι.
9 So Peter followed the angel out. He didn't realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening—he thought he was seeing a vision.
καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ἀληθές ἐστι τὸ γινόμενον διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου, ἐδόκει δὲ ὅραμα βλέπειν.
10 They passed the first and second sets of guards, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. This opened for them by itself. They went out and down the street, when suddenly the angel left him.
διελθόντες δὲ πρώτην φυλακὴν καὶ δευτέραν ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τὴν σιδηρᾶν τὴν φέρουσαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ἥτις αὐτομάτη ἠνοίχθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐξελθόντες προῆλθον ῥύμην μίαν, καὶ εὐθέως ἀπέστη ὁ ἄγγελος ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.
11 When Peter came to his senses, he said, “Now I realize this really happened! The Lord sent an angel to rescue me from Herod's power, and from everything that the Jewish people had planned.”
καὶ ὁ Πέτρος γενόμενος ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἶπε· νῦν οἶδα ἀληθῶς ὅτι ἐξαπέστειλε Κύριος τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξείλετό με ἐκ χειρὸς Ἡρῴδου καὶ πάσης τῆς προσδοκίας τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
12 Now that he was conscious of what had happened, Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many believers had gathered there, and were praying.
συνιδών τε ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Μάρκου, οὗ ἦσαν ἱκανοὶ συνηθροισμένοι καὶ προσευχόμενοι.
13 When he knocked on the gateway door, a servant girl called Rhoda came to open up.
κρούσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν θύραν τοῦ πυλῶνος προσῆλθε παιδίσκη ὑπακοῦσαι ὀνόματι Ῥόδη,
14 But recognizing Peter's voice, in her excitement she didn't open the door. Instead she ran back inside shouting, “Peter's at the door!”
καὶ ἐπιγνοῦσα τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ Πέτρου, ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς οὐκ ἤνοιξε τὸν πυλῶνα, εἰσδραμοῦσα δὲ ἀπήγγειλεν ἑστάναι τὸν Πέτρον πρὸ τοῦ πυλῶνος.
15 “You're mad!” they told her. But she kept on insisting it was true. So they said, “It must be his angel.”
οἱ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν εἶπον· μαίνῃ. ἡ δὲ διισχυρίζετο οὕτως ἔχειν. οἱ δὲ ἔλεγον· ὁ ἄγγελος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
16 Peter continued knocking. When they did eventually open the door, they saw it was him, and were totally shocked.
ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἐπέμενε κρούων. ἀνοίξαντες δὲ εἶδον αὐτὸν καὶ ἐξέστησαν.
17 Peter held up his hand for them to be quiet, and then explained to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. “Let James and the brothers know about this,” he told them, and then left to go somewhere else.
κατασείσας δὲ αὐτοῖς τῇ χειρὶ σιγᾶν διηγήσατο αὐτοῖς πῶς ὁ Κύριος ἐξήγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς, εἶπε δέ· ἀπαγγείλατε Ἰακώβῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ταῦτα. καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἐπορεύθη εἰς ἕτερον τόπον.
18 When daylight came the soldiers were totally confused as to what had happened to Peter.
Γενομένης δὲ ἡμέρας ἦν τάραχος οὐκ ὀλίγος ἐν τοῖς στρατιώταις, τί ἄρα ὁ Πέτρος ἐγένετο.
19 Herod had a thorough search made for him, but he couldn't be found. After interrogating the guards, Herod ordered that they should be executed. Then Herod left Judea and went to stay in Caesarea.
Ἡρῴδης δὲ ἐπιζητήσας αὐτὸν καὶ μὴ εὑρών, ἀνακρίνας τοὺς φύλακας ἐκέλευσεν ἀπαχθῆναι, καὶ κατελθὼν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας εἰς τὴν Καισάρειαν διέτριβεν.
20 Now Herod had become furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They sent a joint delegation to see him and managed to win Blastus, the king's personal assistant, over to their side. They pleaded for peace with Herod because they were dependent on the king's territory for food.
Ἦν δὲ Ἡρῴδης θυμομαχῶν Τυρίοις καὶ Σιδωνίοις· ὁμοθυμαδόν τε παρῆσαν πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ πείσαντες Βλάστον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως ᾐτοῦντο εἰρήνην, διὰ τὸ τρέφεσθαι αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς.
21 When the day came for their appointment with the king, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and gave a speech to them.
τακτῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἐνδυσάμενος ἐσθῆτα βασιλικὴν καὶ καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐδημηγόρει πρὸς αὐτούς.
22 The audience shouted in response, “This is the voice of a god, not that of a man!”
ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐπεφώνει· Θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου.
23 Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory. He was consumed by worms and died.
παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἀνθ᾽ ὧν οὐκ ἔδωκε τὴν δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος ἐξέψυξεν.
24 But the word of God spread, and more and more people believed.
Ὁ δὲ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ηὔξανε καὶ ἐπληθύνετο.
25 Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem once they had finished their mission, taking John Mark with them.
Βαρνάβας δὲ καὶ Σαῦλος ὑπέστρεψαν ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πληρώσαντες τὴν διακονίαν, συμπαραλαβόντες καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἐπικληθέντα Μᾶρκον.
