It
was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church,
intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of
John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met
with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened
during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him,
he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four
soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the
Passover.
5 So
Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The
night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly
an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on
the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off
Peter’s wrists.
8 Then
the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so.
“Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter
followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was
doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They
passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the
city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had
walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then
Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has
sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the
Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When
this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also
called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter
knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the
door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so
overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the
door!”
15 “You’re
out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they
said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But
Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were
astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be
quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and
the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for
another place.
18 In
the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had
become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for
him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be
executed.
Then
Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
11 This
is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest, a teacher
of the Law, a man learned in matters concerning the commands and decrees of the
Lord for Israel:
12 Artaxerxes,
king of kings,
To
Ezra the priest, teacher of the Law of the God of heaven:
Greetings.
13 Now
I decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including priests and
Levites, who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you, may go. 14 You
are sent by the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and
Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which is in your hand. 15 Moreover,
you are to take with you the silver and gold that the king and his advisers
have freely given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 together
with all the silver and gold you may obtain from the province of Babylon, as
well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests for the temple of
their God in Jerusalem. 17 With this money be sure to buy
bulls, rams and male lambs, together with their grain offerings and drink
offerings, and sacrifice them on the altar of the temple of your God in
Jerusalem.
18 You
and your fellow Israelites may then do whatever seems best with the rest of the
silver and gold, in accordance with the will of your God. 19 Deliver
to the God of Jerusalem all the articles entrusted to you for worship in the
temple of your God. 20 And anything else needed for the temple
of your God that you are responsible to supply, you may provide from the royal
treasury.
21 Now
I, King Artaxerxes, decree that all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates are to
provide with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law of the
God of heaven, may ask of you— 22 up to a hundred talents[a] of silver,
a hundred cors[b] of wheat, a
hundred baths[c] of wine, a
hundred baths[d] of olive
oil, and salt without limit. 23 Whatever the God of heaven has
prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven.
Why should his wrath fall on the realm of the king and of his sons? 24 You
are also to know that you have no authority to impose taxes, tribute or duty on
any of the priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers, temple servants or other
workers at this house of God.
25 And
you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God, which you possess,
appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of
Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach any who
do not know them. 26 Whoever does not obey the law of your God
and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment,
confiscation of property, or imprisonment.[e]
27 Praise
be to the Lord, the God of our
ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of
the Lord in Jerusalem in this way 28 and
who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all
the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders
from Israel to go up with me.
