Atos 12 - Bíblia Online

Naquele tempo o rei Herodes mandou prender alguns da igreja para os maltratar. 
Ordenou que matassem à espada Tiago, irmão de João. 
Vendo que isto agradava aos judeus, fez ainda mais, mandou prender também a Pedro-e eram os dias dos pães asmos- 
e tendo-o feito prender, lançou-o no cárcere, entregando-o a quatro escoltas de quatro soldados cada uma para o guardarem, tencionando apresentá-lo ao povo depois da páscoa. 
Pedro, pois, estava guardado no cárcere; mas a igreja orava com insistência a Deus por ele. 
Quando Herodes estava para apresentá-lo, nessa mesma noite Pedro dormia entre dois soldados, acorrentado com duas cadeias, e sentinelas à porta guardavam o cárcere. 
Eis que sobreveio um anjo do Senhor, e uma luz brilhou na prisão; e ele, tocando o lado de Pedro, o despertou, dizendo: Levanta-te depressa. As cadeias caíram-lhe das mãos. 
O anjo acrescentou: Cinge-te e calça as tuas sandálias. Ele assim o fez. Disse-lhe mais: Cobre-te com a tua capa e segue-me. 
Pedro, saindo, seguia-o, e não sabia que era real o que se fazia por meio do anjo, mas julgava que era uma visão. 
Depois de terem passado a primeira e a segunda sentinela, chegaram ao portão de ferro que dá para a cidade, o qual se lhes abriu por si mesmo; e saindo, andaram uma rua, e logo o anjo o deixou. 
Pedro, tornando a si, disse: Agora sei verdadeiramente que o Senhor enviou o seu anjo e me livrou da mão de Herodes e de tudo o que esperava o povo judaico. 
Depois de refletir, foi à casa de Maria, mãe de João, que tem por sobrenome Marcos, onde muitas pessoas estavam congregadas e oravam. 
Quando ele bateu ao postigo do portão, veio uma criada chamada Rode ver quem era; 
reconhecendo a voz de Pedro, de gozo não abriu o portão, mas correndo para dentro, contou que Pedro estava ali. 
Eles lhe disseram: Estás louca. Ela, porém, asseverava que era ele. Diziam: É o seu anjo. 
Mas Pedro continuava a bater; quando abriram o portão, viram-no e ficaram atônitos. 
Mas ele, acenando-lhes com a mão que se calassem, contou-lhes como o Senhor o tirou do cárcere, e acrescentou: Anunciai isto a Tiago e aos irmãos. E saindo, retirou-se para outro lugar. 
Logo que amanheceu, houve grande alvoroço entre os soldados sobre o que teria acontecido a Pedro. 
Herodes, tendo-o procurado e não o achando, inquiriu as sentinelas e mandou que fossem justiçadas; e descendo da Judéia a Cesaréia, ali se demorou. 
Herodes estava irritado contra os de Tiro e de Sidom; porém eles de comum acordo se apresentaram a ele e, depois de alcançar o favor de Blasto, camarista do rei, pediam paz, porque era do país do rei que se abastecia o país deles. 
Num dia designado Herodes, vestido de traje real, sentado no trono, dirigia-lhes uma fala; 
e o povo clamava: É voz de um deus e não de um homem. 
No mesmo instante um anjo do Senhor o feriu, por ele não haver dado glória a Deus; e comido de vermes, expirou. 
Entretanto a palavra de Deus crescia e se multiplicava. 
Barnabé e Saulo, tendo acabado o seu serviço, voltaram de Jerusalém, levando consigo a João que tem por sobrenome Marcos. 

Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians. 
And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. 
And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread. 
And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover. 
So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him. 
And when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the door of the prison. 
And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands. 
Then the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he said, Put your coat round you and come with me. 
And he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision. 
And when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one street; and then the angel went away. 
And when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the hopes of the Jews. 
And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer. 
And he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda. 
And hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the door, to say that Peter was outside. 
And they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision, that it was so. And they said, It is his angel. 
But Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw him, they were full of wonder. 
But he made a sign to them with his hand to be quiet, and gave them an account of how the Lord had taken him out of prison. And he said, Give the news to James and the brothers. And then he went away. 
Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter. 
And Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down from Judaea to Caesarea for a time. 
Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon: and they came to him, all together, and having made friends with Blastus, the controller of the king's house, they made a request for peace, because their country was dependent on the king's country for its food. 
And on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in his place, made a public statement to them. 
And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man. 
And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end. 
But the word of the Lord went on increasing. 
And Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem, when their work was ended, taking with them John named Mark. 

Atos 13