Acts 8-12
EasyEnglish Bible
8 Saul was standing there while the Jewish leaders killed Stephen. He agreed with what they did.
Saul puts many believers in prison
On the same day that Stephen died, the group of believers who lived in Jerusalem began to have great trouble. People did bad things to them. All the believers left Jerusalem and went to other places in Judea and Samaria. Only Jesus' 12 apostles stayed in Jerusalem.
2 Some good men who loved God buried Stephen's dead body. They were very sad and they cried with loud voices. 3 But Saul brought great trouble to the believers. He wanted to destroy their whole group. So he went to all their houses. He took hold of the believers and he put them into prison. He did that to both men and women.
People in Samaria hear God's good news
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to many different towns. In each place, they told the people the message about Jesus. 5 One of them who was called Philip went to a city in Samaria. There he told the people the message about Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
6 Crowds of people came together to hear Philip speak. They saw him do many miracles which showed that God was with him. So they listened carefully to his message.[a] 7 Many people there had bad spirits, which were living in them. Philip sent the bad spirits out of those people. As the spirits came out, they shouted loudly. Some other people had weak arms or legs, and some people could not walk well. Philip caused many of them to become well again. 8 As a result, the people in that city were very happy.
9 A man called Simon lived in that city. For a long time, he had used magic to do great things. All the people who lived in Samaria were very surprised at what he did. Simon told everyone that he was a very important person. 10 All the people in the city watched Simon carefully. This included the people who were important and all the other people too. Everyone said, ‘This man has great power that comes from God.’ 11 Simon had used his magic for a long time and he had surprised them all very much. Because of that, they listened to him carefully. 12 But then Philip told them the good news about the kingdom of God. He told them the message about God's Messiah, Jesus. Many men and women believed Philip's message, so he baptized them. 13 Simon also believed and Philip baptized him too. After this, Simon stayed near to Philip. He was very surprised at the powerful miracles which Philip did.
14 The apostles who were in Jerusalem heard about all this. They heard that many people in Samaria had believed God's word. So they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When these two apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the people who now believed in Jesus. They asked God to give the new believers the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come to any of these people. When Philip had baptized them, he had just used the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 So Peter and John put their hands on the head of each believer, and they each received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that God gave the Holy Spirit to people when the apostles put their hands on them. So he said to Peter and John, ‘Here is some money for you. 19 Please give me this same power. I want to put my hands on other people, so that they will receive the Holy Spirit.’
20 Peter answered Simon, ‘I pray that God will destroy you and your money! You think that you can buy this gift with your money! It is very wrong for you to think that. It is God who gives that gift. 21 You cannot do the work which we are doing. God knows that you are not thinking the right things. 22 You must turn away from those very bad thoughts. Turn to the Lord and pray that he will forgive you. Then perhaps he will forgive you for these bad thoughts. 23 You are very upset because you are jealous. I can see that sin rules your life.’
24 Then Simon said to Peter and John, ‘Please, pray to the Lord God for me. Then none of these bad things that you have spoken about will happen to me.’
25 Peter and John told the people about the Lord Jesus and they spoke God's message to them. Then they returned to Jerusalem. On their way, they went through many villages in Samaria and they told the people the good news about Jesus.
Philip meets a man from Ethiopia
26 Then an angel of the Lord God came to Philip. He said, ‘Philip, go south to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza which goes through the wilderness.’[b]
27 So Philip started on his journey. While he was going along this road, he met an important officer from Ethiopia. This man had authority over the queen of Ethiopia's money. The queen was called Candace. The officer was travelling home from Jerusalem. He had been there to worship God.[c]
28 Now the man was travelling home again in his chariot. He was reading something from the book that God's prophet Isaiah wrote. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and walk beside it.’
30 So Philip ran to the cart as it went along. The officer was reading aloud from the prophet Isaiah's book and Philip heard him. So Philip asked the man, ‘Do you understand the things that you are reading about?’
31 The man answered, ‘I cannot understand it. I need someone to explain it to me.’ Then he said to Philip, ‘Come up here and sit with me in the cart.’
32 The officer was reading these words from the book of Isaiah:
‘He was like a sheep that people were leading away to kill.
He was like a lamb when they are cutting off its wool,
but it makes no noise.
In the same way, he did not say anything.
33 People did not respect him at all.
They refused to judge him in a fair way.
Nobody can say anything about his descendants,
because his life on earth came to an end.’[d]
34 The officer said to Philip, ‘Please tell me who the prophet Isaiah wrote about. Was he writing about himself or about another person?’ 35 Then Philip explained to the man the words that Isaiah had written. Then he went on to tell him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were travelling along the road, they came to a place with some water. The man said to Philip, ‘Look! There is some water here. Please will you baptize me? Is there anything to stop you?’
[37 Philip said to him, ‘I can baptize you if you really believe in Jesus.’ The man said to Philip, ‘I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’][e]
38 The officer said to the man who was driving the chariot, ‘Stop the chariot!’ Then he went down with Philip into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 They both came up out of the water again. Immediately the Lord's Holy Spirit took Philip away from that place. The officer did not see Philip again. He continued his journey and he was very happy.
40 Philip saw that he was now in Azotus.[f] From there, he visited many towns and he told people the good news about Jesus. He did this as he went all the way to Caesarea.[g]
Jesus meets with Saul
9 All this time, Saul was still speaking strongly against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. He wanted to kill all the believers. So he went to see the most important priest in Jerusalem. 2 Saul asked him, ‘Please will you write some letters for me?[h] Then I can give one of these letters to the leader of each Jewish group in Damascus.[i] That will give me authority to take hold of any believers that I find there.’
Saul wanted to find anyone who agreed with the Way of the Lord Jesus.[j] Then he would tie them and bring them back to Jerusalem, whether they were men or they were women. 3 He travelled towards Damascus. He was very near the city when a bright light suddenly appeared. The light came from the sky, and it shone all around him. 4 Saul fell down onto the ground. He heard a voice which said to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?’
5 Saul asked, ‘Lord, who are you?’ He said, ‘I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. 6 Now you must get up and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.’
7 The men who were travelling with Saul stood still. They could not say anything. They could hear that someone was speaking. But they could not see anyone. 8 Saul stood up. He opened his eyes, but he could not see anything. So the men who were with Saul held his hand. They led him into Damascus. 9 For three days, Saul could not see anything. During that time, he did not eat any food or drink anything.
10 There was a believer who lived in Damascus. His name was Ananias. God gave him a message in a vision. The Lord Jesus said to him, ‘Ananias!’ Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I am here.’
11 Jesus said to Ananias, ‘Prepare yourself and go to Straight Street. A man called Judas lives on that street. Go to his house. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus who is called Saul. He is praying to God. 12 He has had a message from God in a vision. In his vision, he saw a man who is called Ananias come to him. He saw you put your hands on him so that he could see again.’
13 Ananias replied, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man. He has done very bad things to your own people, the believers in Jerusalem. 14 Now he has come here to Damascus, and he has brought letters with him from the leaders of the priests. They have given him authority, so that he will take hold of everyone who believes in you. He will tie them and put them in prison.’
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me. 16 I myself will tell him about the many troubles that he will have. He will have much pain on my behalf.’
17 So Ananias went to Judas's house and he went inside. He put his hands on Saul and he said to him, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself has sent me here to you.[k] It was Jesus that you saw on the road when you were coming here to Damascus. He has sent me to you so that you will be able to see again. God will also fill you with his Holy Spirit.’
18 When Ananias said that, immediately something like bits of fish skin fell from Saul's eyes. Then Saul could see again. So he stood up and Ananias baptized him. 19 Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.
Saul teaches people about Jesus
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All the people who heard what Saul said were very surprised. They said to each other, ‘This is the same man who caused much pain to the believers in Jerusalem. We are sure it is him! Now he has come here to Damascus to take hold of the believers and take them away to Jerusalem. He wants to make them stand in front of the leaders of the priests.’
22 But Saul became even more powerful when he taught the people. He showed very clearly that Jesus is God's Messiah. So the Jews who lived there in Damascus could not answer him.
23 After many days, the Jews met together. They decided that they would kill Saul. 24 But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him. 25 But one night, Saul's friends helped him to leave the city secretly. They put him in a basket. Then they put him through a hole in the city wall. Then they let the basket go slowly down to the ground outside the city.[l]
Saul returns to Jerusalem
26 Saul returned to Jerusalem. He wanted to join the group of believers there. But they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he had really become a disciple of Jesus. 27 But one of the believers who was called Barnabas helped Saul. He took Saul to meet the apostles. Barnabas then explained to the apostles what had happened to Saul. Barnabas said to them, ‘Saul saw the Lord when he was on his way to Damascus. The Lord spoke to him there. Then, while Saul was in Damascus, he bravely told people the message about Jesus.’
28 After that, Saul stayed with the apostles. He went everywhere in Jerusalem and he bravely taught people the message about the Lord Jesus. 29 Saul also talked with the Jews who spoke the Greek language.[m] He argued with them about Jesus. As a result, they wanted to kill him.
30 The other believers heard about this. So they took Saul away to Caesarea. From there, they sent him to Tarsus.
31 By this time there were believers everywhere in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. For some time they had no troubles. The Holy Spirit helped them to become strong. So more people became believers, and they obeyed God in everything that they did.
Peter travels to Lydda and Joppa
32 Peter often travelled to many different places. One day he travelled to Lydda, and he went to see the believers there. 33 In Lydda, he met a man called Aeneas. Aeneas could not move his arms or his legs. He lay on his mat all the time. He had been on his mat for eight years.
34 Peter said to Aeneas, ‘Jesus Christ now makes you well again! So stand up and put away your mat.’ Immediately Aeneas stood up. 35 Many people who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas. They saw that he was now well and they believed in the Lord Jesus.
36 There was a woman called Tabitha who lived in Joppa.[n] She was a believer. In the Greek language, her name was Dorcas, which means ‘deer’.[o] She was always doing good things to help people. She gave poor people the things that they needed.
37 Dorcas became very ill and then she died. Women washed her body and they put it in a room upstairs. 38 Joppa was not very far from Lydda. The believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda. So they sent two men to go and to tell him, ‘Please hurry and come to Joppa.’
39 Peter then returned to Joppa with the two men. When he arrived at Dorcas's house, some women took him upstairs. Many widows were there and they were crying. They all stood there, near to Peter. They showed him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent all these women out of the room. He went down on his knees and he prayed to God. Then he turned his head towards the dead woman and he said, ‘Tabitha, stand up!’ She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 Peter held her hand and he helped her to stand up. Then he told the widows and all the believers to come into the room. He showed them that Dorcas was alive again.
42 People everywhere in Joppa heard what had happened. As a result, many more people believed in the Lord Jesus. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for many days. He stayed with a man called Simon, who was a tanner.[p]
Cornelius asks Peter to come to him
10 There was a man who lived in Caesarea and his name was Cornelius. He was an officer in the Roman army. His group of soldiers was called ‘The Group from Italy’. 2 Cornelius was a good man. He and all his family served God faithfully. Cornelius prayed to God every day. He also gave money to help poor Jewish people.[q]
3 One afternoon, at about three o'clock, Cornelius had a vision.[r] He clearly saw one of God's angels. The angel came in and said to him, ‘Cornelius!’
4 Cornelius looked at the angel and he was afraid. He asked, ‘Master, why have you come to me?’
The angel answered, ‘God has heard your prayers. He knows about all the money that you give to poor people. This has pleased him. Now God is answering your prayers. 5 You must send some men to Joppa. They will find a man who is staying there. He is called Simon Peter. Your men must tell him to come here to Caesarea. 6 He is staying at the house of Simon the tanner.[s] His house is near the sea.’
7 Then the angel who spoke to Cornelius went away. Cornelius told two of his servants and a soldier of his group to come to him. The soldier was one of those who served Cornelius. He was a good man who obeyed God. 8 Cornelius explained to these three men what the angel had said to him. Then he sent them to Joppa.[t]
9 The next day, at about noon, Cornelius's men were coming near to Joppa. At this time, Peter went up on the roof of the house to pray to God.[u] 10 He became hungry and he wanted to eat some food. While someone was preparing a meal for him, Peter had a special dream. 11 In a vision, he saw heaven open above him. Then he saw something like a large piece of cloth. Somebody held it at each of its four corners and let it come down to the ground. 12 Inside the cloth there were many different kinds of animals with four legs. There were also wild birds and snakes. 13 Then Peter heard a voice that said to him, ‘Peter, stand up and kill some of these animals. Then you can cook them and eat the meat.’
14 Peter answered, ‘No, Lord, I would certainly not do that. I have never eaten an animal that our Law says is unclean.’[v]
15 Then, for the second time, the voice said to Peter, ‘God has made these animals good for people to eat. So you must not say that it is not right to eat them.’
16 All this happened three times. After that, the cloth immediately went back up into heaven.
17 Just then, Cornelius's men arrived there in Joppa. They found Simon's house. When they stopped at the gate of the house, Peter was still thinking about his dream and what it meant. 18 The men shouted out, ‘Is a man called Simon Peter staying here?’
19 While Peter was still thinking about his dream, the Holy Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men have arrived and they are looking for you. 20 Get up and go downstairs to meet them. I have sent these men to come to you. So you should go with them. Do not be afraid.’
21 Peter went downstairs and he said to the men, ‘I am the person that you are looking for. Why have you come here?’
22 The men answered him, ‘The Roman officer who is called Cornelius has sent us to you. He is a good man and he obeys God's Law. All the Jewish people respect him. An angel from God told him to send us to you with a message. Then we should bring you to Cornelius's house so that he could hear what you have to say.’ 23 Then Peter said to the men, ‘Please come into the house and stay here with us tonight.’
Peter at Cornelius's house
The next day, Peter left Joppa to go to Caesarea with Cornelius's men. Some believers who lived in Joppa travelled with them. 24 The next day, Peter arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was ready to meet Peter and the other men. He told his family and his special friends to come to his house. They were all waiting to meet Peter. 25 When Peter arrived at the house, Cornelius went out to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Peter to worship him. 26 But Peter lifted Cornelius up from the ground and he said to him, ‘Stand up. I am only a man, like you are.’
27 Peter continued to talk to Cornelius and they went into the house. Peter saw that many people had come together there in the house. 28 He said to them, ‘You all know that we Jews do not become friends with Gentiles. Our Jewish laws do not let us visit the homes of Gentiles. But God has now shown me something different. I should not say about anyone that God will not accept them.[w] 29 So when you asked me to come here, I was happy to come. I knew that it was right. So tell me now. Why did you ask me to come?’
30 Then Cornelius said, ‘Three days ago, I was in my house at this time of the day. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and I was praying to God. Suddenly, a man appeared and he stood in front of me. He was wearing bright clothes that shone. 31 The man said to me, “Cornelius, you have prayed to God and you have often given money to poor people. Now God wants to answer you. 32 So send some men to Joppa to fetch a man who is called Simon Peter. He is staying there at the house of Simon the tanner. His house is near the sea.” 33 So I sent some men immediately to bring you here. Thank you that you agreed to come. Now we are all here together, and God is with us. We are ready to listen to your message. Please tell us everything that the Lord God has told you to say.’
Peter speaks to Cornelius and to his family and friends
34 Then Peter said to them, ‘Now I understand that God accepts all people in the same way. God has shown me that this is true. 35 God accepts all people who worship him and who do the right things. It is not important to God which nation a person belongs to. 36 This is the message that God has sent to the people of Israel. He told us the good news about Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all people. Because of Jesus, we can now come near to God again. 37 You know about the important things that have happened everywhere in Judea. These things began in Galilee after John spoke God's message to the people. He baptized those people who believed in God. 38 You know that God chose Jesus to do special work for him. He gave Jesus his Holy Spirit and helped him to do powerful things. Jesus came from the town of Nazareth. He travelled to many places and he did good things. The Devil had power over some people. But Jesus caused all those people to become well again. He could do those powerful things because God was with him.
39 We saw everything that Jesus did in Jerusalem and in all Judea. The leaders in Jerusalem fixed Jesus to a cross and they killed him. 40 But then, three days after that, God caused Jesus to become alive again. God caused him to appear to us. 41 Not all the people saw him. God chose us to be Jesus' apostles and we saw him. Now we are telling people about all these things. We ate and we drank with Jesus after he became alive again. 42 At that time, Jesus said to us, “Go and tell people the message about me. Tell them that God has given me authority to judge all people. I will judge those who are now alive. And I will judge those who have died.” ’ 43 Then Peter said, ‘All of God's prophets spoke about Jesus as God's Messiah. They said that God would forgive everyone who believes in him. He would forgive them for their sins because of what Jesus, the Messiah, would do.’
Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all the people who were listening to his message. 45 The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were very surprised. They saw that God had now freely given his Holy Spirit to Gentiles. 46 They heard the new believers speaking in strange languages. They were also praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 ‘God has clearly given his Holy Spirit to these people, in the same way that he gave him to us. So we should now baptize them with water. You surely agree that this is the right thing to do.’ 48 So Peter told the Jewish believers to baptize the new believers. They spoke the name of Jesus Christ when they baptized them. After that, Cornelius asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Peter returns to Jerusalem
11 The apostles and the other believers in Judea heard that Gentiles had also believed the message from God. 2 Peter then returned from Caesarea and he arrived in Jerusalem. Some of the Jews there who were believers spoke against him. These Jews thought that all believers should be circumcised. 3 So they said to Peter, ‘You stayed in the house of men who were not circumcised. You even ate meals with them!’[x]
4 Peter then began to explain everything that had happened. He said to them, 5 ‘I was staying in a house in the city of Joppa. One day, when I was praying, I had a special dream. In this vision, I saw something that came down from heaven. It was like a large piece of cloth. Somebody held it at each of its four corners and let it come down to the ground next to me. 6 I looked carefully at it. I saw that there were farm animals with four legs inside the cloth. There were also wild animals, snakes, and birds in it. 7 Then I heard a voice that said to me, “Peter, stand up and kill some of these animals. Then you can cook them and eat the meat.”
8 But I answered, “No, Lord, I would certainly not do that. I have never eaten an animal that our Law says is unclean.”
9 Then the voice spoke to me from heaven again. It said, “God has made these animals good for people to eat. So you must not say that it is not right to eat them.” 10 All this happened three times. After that, the cloth went back up into heaven again.
11 At that moment, three men from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying. Someone had sent these men to find me. 12 The Holy Spirit told me that I should go with them. He said that I should not be afraid. These six believers from Joppa also went with me to Caesarea. We all went into Cornelius's house. 13 Then Cornelius told us what had happened to him. He had seen an angel who appeared in his house and said to him, “Send some men to Joppa to fetch a man who is called Simon Peter. 14 He will come and speak to you. His message will tell you how God will save you and everyone else in your house.”
15 When I started to speak to Cornelius and his family, the Holy Spirit came down on them. It happened in the same way that he first came down on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord Jesus had said to us: “John baptized people with water, but God will baptize you with his Holy Spirit.” 17 So we see that God gave these Gentiles his gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the same gift that he gave to us Jews who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I could never try to stop God.’
18 The Jewish believers heard what Peter said. They could not say anything more against him. Instead, they praised God and they said, ‘We now see that God has also let Gentiles have life with him. He will accept them if they stop doing bad things and turn to him.’
The believers go to Antioch
19 After the Jewish leaders had killed Stephen, the believers had a lot of trouble. The believers left Jerusalem and they went to many different places. Some of them went away as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. They told God's message to people in these places. But they only told the message to Jews.
20 Some of the believers were people who came from Cyprus and Cyrene. These men went to Antioch. There they told God's message to Gentiles, as well as to Jews. They told everyone the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord God helped these men with his power. Very many people believed their message and they trusted in the Lord Jesus.
22 The believers in Jerusalem heard about what had happened in Antioch. So they decided to send Barnabas there. 23 Barnabas arrived in Antioch. He saw how God had been kind to the people there and helped them. Barnabas was happy about this. So he said to the new believers, ‘Continue to trust the Lord Jesus completely.’
24 Barnabas was a good man. The power of God's Holy Spirit was with him. He trusted God completely. Many people in Antioch believed in Jesus and joined the group of believers.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When Barnabas found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For one whole year, Barnabas and Saul met together with the group of believers there. They taught very many of them about Jesus. Antioch was the first place where the believers were called Christians.
27 During this time, some prophets travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of these men was called Agabus. The Holy Spirit gave him a message from God. He stood up and he said to the people there, ‘Soon people will be very hungry all over the world because there will be no food.’ (That happened when Claudius ruled the Roman world.)[y]
29 The believers in Antioch wanted to help the other believers who lived in Judea. Each of them decided how much of their own money they could give. 30 Then they gave the money to Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas and Saul took this gift to the leaders of the believers in Jerusalem.
King Herod puts Peter in prison
12 At that time, King Herod took hold of some of the group of believers in Jerusalem. He wanted to cause them to suffer. 2 He sent his soldiers to cut off James's head. James was John's brother.[z]
3 King Herod saw that the Jews were happy because he had killed James. So he sent his soldiers to take hold of Peter too. This happened during the Festival of Flat Bread.[aa]
4 After the soldiers caught Peter, they put him in prison. While he was in prison, four different groups of soldiers guarded him. There were four soldiers in each group.[ab] Herod wanted to judge Peter in front of everybody. After the Passover festival had finished, he would bring Peter out of the prison to do this.
5 So Herod kept Peter in prison. But during that time, the group of believers prayed that God would help Peter.
Peter walks out of the prison
6 It was the night before King Herod wanted to bring Peter out of the prison and judge him. The soldiers had tied Peter to themselves with chains. So Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Some other soldiers were guarding the doors of the prison. 7 Then, an angel from the Lord God suddenly appeared in the prison. A bright light shone in the room where Peter was sleeping. The angel touched Peter's shoulder so that Peter woke up. He said to Peter, ‘Hurry! Stand up!’ Immediately the chains fell off Peter's hands.
8 Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and your shoes.’ Peter did what the angel told him to do. Then the angel said, ‘Now put on your coat and follow me.’ 9 So Peter followed the angel out of the prison. He was not sure that all these things were really happening to him. He thought that he might be dreaming. 10 Peter and the angel walked past the first group of soldiers in the prison. Then they walked past the second group of soldiers. After that, they came to the big metal gate in the wall of the prison. The city was outside this gate. The gate opened by itself in front of them. So Peter and the angel went out of the prison through the gate. They walked together along one street and then, suddenly, the angel went away.
11 Then Peter understood what had happened. He said to himself, ‘Now I know that these things really have happened to me. The Lord God sent one of his angels to rescue me from Herod's power. The Jewish leaders wanted Herod to cause me to suffer. But God has saved me from those bad things.’
12 When Peter realized what God had done for him, he went to Mary's house. She was the mother of John Mark. Many people were meeting together in her house. They were praying to God.[ac]
13 Peter knocked on the outside door of the house. A servant girl called Rhoda came to the door. 14 She recognized Peter's voice and she was very happy. But she did not open the door. Instead, she ran back into the house and she said to all the people there, ‘Peter is standing outside the door!’
15 The people in the house said to her, ‘You are crazy.’ But she told them again that Peter really was there. So then they said, ‘It is not him, but it is his angel.’[ad]
16 While all this was happening, Peter was still knocking at the door. Then someone went and opened the door. They were all very surprised when they saw him there. 17 Peter raised his hand towards them so that they would all be quiet. Then he explained to them how the Lord God had brought him out of the prison. He said to them, ‘Tell James and all the other believers what has happened to me.’[ae] Then he left the house and he went away to another place.
18 When morning arrived, there was a lot of trouble at the prison. The soldiers did not understand what had happened to Peter. 19 When Herod knew about it, he said to the soldiers, ‘Go and look for Peter!’ But they could not find him anywhere. Herod then asked the soldiers who guarded the prison some questions. They could not explain what had happened. So Herod commanded other soldiers to cut off their heads.
After this happened, Herod left Judea. He went to Caesarea and he stayed there for some time.
King Herod dies
20 At that time, King Herod was angry with the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon. A group of men from these cities went together to speak to Herod about the problem. A man called Blastus was an important servant in King Herod's house. The group of men said to Blastus, ‘Please help us when we speak to King Herod.’ Then they went and they said to Herod, ‘Please stop being angry with our people. We want to be friends again.’ They said this because they needed to buy food in King Herod's country.[af]
21 Herod decided on which day he would meet with them. He put on his beautiful clothes and he sat in his special seat as king. Then he spoke his message to all the people. 22 When he spoke, the people shouted, ‘This is not a man who is speaking to us. This is the voice of a god!’
23 Herod let the people praise him, instead of God. So, immediately, an angel of the Lord God caused him to become very ill. Worms ate his body and later he died.
Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch
24 Everywhere that the believers went, they told people God's message. People heard the message in more and more places and many of them believed in Jesus.
25 Barnabas and Saul had gone to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They finished their work and then they returned to Antioch. They took John Mark with them.
Footnotes
- 8:6 The Holy Spirit lived in Philip. He helped Philip to speak in a powerful way. Because of this Philip could do these special things for the people.
- 8:26 It was about 70 kilometres from Jerusalem to the town of Gaza.
- 8:27 Ethiopia is a country in Africa. Candace was a special name for their queen. We think that the man from Ethiopia was a Gentile. But now he worshipped the God of the Jews. The Ethiopian man was riding in a chariot that horses pulled. It was not the kind of chariot that soldiers used when they went to fight.
- 8:33 We can read this in Isaiah 53:7-8. Isaiah wrote this about Jesus hundreds of years earlier.
- 8:37 Most Bibles do not have verse 37.
- 8:40 Azotus was a town 30 kilometres north of Gaza.
- 8:40 Caesarea was an important city in Israel. The Roman ruler sometimes lived there. Caesarea was at the coast and it was an important port. It was 70 kilometres from Jerusalem. We think that Philip lived in Caesarea for many years. Philip was still living in Caesarea when Luke wrote about him again in Acts 21:8.
- 9:2 Saul needed letters from the most important priest. Then he would have authority. He could catch any believers that he found.
- 9:2 Damascus was an important city and it was about 240 kilometres from Jerusalem. It was in Syria and many Jews lived there. Damascus was one of the ten towns that the Romans did not rule. These ten towns had their own rulers.
- 9:2 People called the early Christians ‘Those who followed the Way of the Lord’.
- 9:17 Brother is a name that a Christian may call another Christian.
- 9:25 Paul's friends tied a rope to the basket and they held the rope. Then they let the basket go down to the ground.
- 9:29 Saul could speak the Greek language. Most people in that part of the world spoke Greek.
- 9:36 Joppa was a town 45 kilometres from Jerusalem. At that time, it was an important sea port in Judea. Joppa was about 20 kilometres from Lydda.
- 9:36 Tabitha was her name in the Aramaic language. Most Jews spoke the Aramaic language. They might also speak the Hebrew language. Greek is the language that people spoke in Greece, but a lot of people in other countries also spoke it.
- 9:43 A ‘tanner’ is someone who works with animal skins to make leather.
- 10:2 Cornelius was a not a Jew. But he believed in God and he obeyed the Law of Moses. His family and all his servants also obeyed God.
- 10:3 Three o'clock in the afternoon was a time when the Jews prayed to God. Cornelius was praying when he saw the angel in his dream.
- 10:6 A ‘tanner’ is someone who works with animal skins to make leather.
- 10:8 Joppa was about 50 kilometres from Caesarea.
- 10:9 In those days, in Israel, all the houses had flat roofs. People sat up there after they had finished working. It was quiet there.
- 10:14 We can read about these laws in Leviticus 11. The animals inside the cloth included animals that these laws would not allow a Jew to eat.
- 10:28 Peter now understood more about his own dream. He knew that God was teaching him something. The dream was a message from God about all people. All people can be believers. People can be either Jews or Gentiles. God will accept everyone.
- 11:3 The Jews that spoke to Peter believed in Jesus. They thought that Peter had done a wrong thing. He had stayed with people who were not Jews. And he had even eaten meals with them.
- 11:28 Claudius ruled the Roman world from AD 41 to 54. There was a famine in many parts of the Roman world at that time. In Judea, this happened in AD 46.
- 12:2 James and John were sons of Zebedee. King Herod killed James about 10 years after Jesus became alive again.
- 12:3 The Jews usually made bread with yeast, flour and water. But during the week of the Passover festival they did not use any yeast in their bread.
- 12:4 Each group of soldiers guarded the prison for four hours. When one group stopped the next group started. They did this day and night.
- 12:12 It is possible that John Mark wrote Mark's book about Jesus. Mary was the aunt of Barnabas.
- 12:15 At that time, some people believed that everyone had an angel. These angels kept them safe.
- 12:17 This is a different man called James than the man that Herod killed.
- 12:20 The Romans ruled Tyre and Sidon. These were not Jewish cities. And the people did not want Herod to rule them. But they bought their food from Galilee. And the problem was that Herod ruled in Galilee.
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