1 På den tiden begynte kong Herodes å forfølge de kristne hardt.

Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians.

2 Og han lot Jakob, broren til Johannes, bli drept med sverdet.

And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword.

3 Da han så at dette var til glede for jødene, grep han også Peter. Dette var under de usyrede brøds høytid.

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.

4 Da han hadde arrestert ham, satte han ham i fengsel og ga vaktholdet til fire grupper soldater; hensikten var å føre ham frem for folket etter påske.

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.

5 Dermed ble Peter holdt i fengsel, men menigheten ba inderlig til Gud for ham.

So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him.

6 Da Herodes var i ferd med å føre ham ut, lå Peter og sov mellom to soldater, lenket fast, mens vaktene holdt vakt ved fengselsdøren.

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.

7 Og et stort lys strålte i cellen, og en Herrens engel kom til Peter og vekket ham ved å slå ham i siden, og sa: Skynd deg og stå opp. Da falt lenkene av hendene hans.

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.

8 Engelen sa så, Ta på deg sandalene dine og gjør deg klar til å gå. Det gjorde han, og engelen sa, Kast kappen rundt deg og følg meg.

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.

9 Peter fulgte etter engelen, og han visste ikke om det engelen gjorde var virkelig, for det så ut som han hadde et syn.

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.

10 Da de hadde passert første og andre vaktpost, kom de til jernporten som førte ut til byen, og den åpnet seg av seg selv. De gikk ut og fortsatte langs en gate, og så forlot engelen ham.

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.

11 Da Peter kom til seg selv, sa han: Nå vet jeg virkelig at Herren har sendt sin engel og fridd meg fra Herodes' hånd og fra alt jødene ventet på.

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.

12 Da han forstod dette, gikk han til huset til Maria, mor til Johannes som ble kalt Markus, hvor mange hadde samlet seg for å be.

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.

13 Han banket på døren, og en tjenestepike ved navn Rode gikk for å åpne.

And he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda.

14 Da hun gjenkjente Peters stemme, ble hun så glad at hun løp tilbake uten å åpne døren og sa at Peter sto utenfor.

And hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the door, to say that Peter was outside.

15 De sa til henne, Du er gal. Men hun fastholdt at det var sant. Og de sa, Det er hans engel.

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.

16 Men Peter fortsatte å banke, og da de åpnet og så ham, ble de forbløffet.

But Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw him, they were full of wonder.

17 Han gjorde tegn til dem om å være stille og fortalte hvordan Herren hadde ført ham ut av fengselet. Og han sa, Fortell dette til Jakob og brødrene. Så forlot han dem.

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.

18 Da det ble dag, ble soldatene svært urolige og lurte på hva som hadde skjedd med Peter.

Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter.

19 Herodes sendte folk for å hente Peter, men da de ikke fant ham, avhørte han vaktene og beordret at de skulle henrettes. Deretter reiste han fra Judea til Cæsarea og oppholdt seg der.

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.

20 Herodes var svært sint på folket i Tyros og Sidon. De kom samlet til ham, og etter å ha fått støtte fra Blastus, kongens kammerherre, ba de om fred fordi landet deres var avhengig av hans land for å få mat.

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.

21 På en avtalt dag kledde Herodes seg i sine kongelige klær, satte seg på tronen og talte til folket.

And on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in his place, made a public statement to them.

22 Folket ropte høyt, Det er lyden av en gud, ikke et menneske.

And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man.

23 I det samme smittet en Herrens engel ham med sykdom, fordi han ikke ga Gud ære. Og han ble fortært av ormer og døde.

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.

24 Men Herrens ord fortsatte å vokse og spre seg.

But the word of the Lord went on increasing.

25 Da Barnabas og Saulus hadde fullført sin tjeneste i Jerusalem, vendte de tilbake og tok Markus, som ble kalt Johannes, med seg.

And Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem, when their work was ended, taking with them John named Mark.