Acts 12:5

THE MESSAGE

All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.

King James Version (1611)
Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church vnto God for him.

King James Version
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

English Standard Version
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

New American Standard Bible
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.

New Century Version
So Peter was kept in jail, but the church prayed earnestly to God for him.

Amplified Bible
So Peter was kept in prison, but fervent and persistent prayer for him was being made to God by the church.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

Berean Standard Bible
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

Contemporary English Version
While Peter was being kept in jail, the church never stopped praying to God for him.

Complete Jewish Bible
So Kefa was being held under watch in prison, but intense prayer was being made to God on his behalf by the Messianic community.

Darby Translation
Peter therefore was kept in the prison; but unceasing prayer was made by the assembly to God concerning him.

Easy-to-Read Version
So Peter was kept in jail, but the church was constantly praying to God for him.

Geneva Bible (1587)
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer was made of ye Church vnto God for him.

George Lamsa Translation
And while Simon Peter was kept in the prison, continual prayer was offered for him to God by the church.

Good News Translation
So Peter was kept in jail, but the people of the church were praying earnestly to God for him.

Lexham English Bible
Thus Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer was fervently being made to God by the church for him.

Literal Translation
Then Peter was indeed kept in the prison, but fervent prayer was made by the assembly to God on his behalf.

American Standard Version
Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.

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

Hebrew Names Version
Kefa therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.

International Standard Version
So Peter was being kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was being offered by the church.

Etheridge Translation
And while Shemun was kept in the house of the bound, constant prayer was offered by the church on his behalf unto Aloha.

Murdock Translation
And while Simon was in custody in the prison, continual prayer to God in his behalf, was offered to God by the church.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Peter was kept in pryson: But prayer was made without ceassyng of the Churche, vnto God for hym.

English Revised Version
Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.

World English Bible
Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
So Peter was kept in the prison; but continual prayer was made to God by the church for him.

Weymouth's New Testament
So Peter was kept in prison; but long and fervent prayer was offered to God by the Church on his behalf.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Petre was kept in prisoun; but preier was maad of the chirche with out ceessing to God for hym.

Update Bible Version
Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church to God for him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing by the church to God for him.

New English Translation
So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him.

New King James Version
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant [fn] prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

New Living Translation
But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

New Life Bible
So Peter was held in prison. But the church kept praying to God for him.

New Revised Standard
While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Peter, therefore, was kept in the prison; but, prayer, was, earnestly, being made by the assembly, unto God, concerning him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.

Revised Standard Version
So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then was Peter kepte in preson. But prayer was made with out ceasynge of the congregacion vnto God for him.

Young's Literal Translation
Peter, therefore, indeed, was kept in the prison, and fervent prayer was being made by the assembly unto God for him,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Peter was kepte in the preson But prayer was made without ceassinge of the congregacion, vnto God for him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
thus Peter was kept in prison, but the Church prayed to God, without ceasing, for him,

Simplified Cowboy Version
But while Pete was locked up, everyone who rode for the Lord prayed for him constantly.

Contextual Overview

⁵ All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously. ⁶ Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances! ⁷Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: "Hurry!" The handcuffs fell off his wrists. The angel said, "Get dressed. Put on your shoes." Peter did it. Then, "Grab your coat and let's get out of here." Peter followed him, but didn't believe it was really an angel—he thought he was dreaming. ¹⁰Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. That's when Peter realized it was no dream. "I can't believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to." ¹²Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary's house, the Mary who was John Mark's mother. The house was packed with praying friends. When he knocked on the door to the courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. But when she recognized his voice—Peter's voice!—she was so excited and eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door and left him standing in the street. ¹⁵But they wouldn't believe her, dismissing her, dismissing her report. "You're crazy," they said. She stuck by her story, insisting. They still wouldn't believe her and said, "It must be his angel." All this time poor Peter was standing out in the street, knocking away. Finally they opened up and saw him—and went wild! Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James and the brothers what's happened." He left them and went off to another place. At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea. But things went from bad to worse for Herod. Now people from Tyre and Sidon put him on the warpath. But they got Blastus, King Herod's right-hand man, to put in a good word for them and got a delegation together to iron things out. Because they were dependent on Judea for food supplies, they couldn't afford to let this go on too long. On the day set for their meeting, Herod, robed in pomposity, took his place on the throne and regaled them with a lot of hot air. The people played their part to the hilt and shouted flatteries: "The voice of God! The voice of God!" That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod's arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died. Meanwhile, the ministry of God's Word grew by leaps and bounds. Barnabas and Saul, once they had delivered the relief offering to the church in Jerusalem, went back to Antioch. This time they took John with them, the one they called Mark. ¹⁷Peter Under Heavy Guard That's when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He murdered James, John's brother. When he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he arrested Peter—all this during Passover Week, mind you—and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover. All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously. Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances! Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: "Hurry!" The handcuffs fell off his wrists. The angel said, "Get dressed. Put on your shoes." Peter did it. Then, "Grab your coat and let's get out of here." Peter followed him, but didn't believe it was really an angel—he thought he was dreaming. Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. That's when Peter realized it was no dream. "I can't believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to." Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary's house, the Mary who was John Mark's mother. The house was packed with praying friends. When he knocked on the door to the courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. But when she recognized his voice—Peter's voice!—she was so excited and eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door and left him standing in the street. But they wouldn't believe her, dismissing her, dismissing her report. "You're crazy," they said. She stuck by her story, insisting. They still wouldn't believe her and said, "It must be his angel." All this time poor Peter was standing out in the street, knocking away. Finally they opened up and saw him—and went wild! Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James and the brothers what's happened." He left them and went off to another place. ¹⁸At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

prayer was made without ceasing: or, instant and earnest prayer was made, Acts 12:12, Isaiah 62:6, Isaiah 62:7, Matthew 18:19, Luke 18:1, 1 Corinthians 12:26, 2 Corinthians 1:11, Ephesians 6:18-20, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Hebrews 13:3, James 5:16

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 12:23 - God forbid Psalms 10:17 - cause Psalms 18:6 - distress Psalms 34:17 - cry Psalms 102:2 - in the day Psalms 127:2 - for so he Isaiah 65:24 - General Jeremiah 37:21 - Thus Daniel 3:20 - to bind Acts 5:18 - General Romans 1:9 - that Romans 12:12 - continuing 2 Corinthians 6:5 - imprisonments Colossians 1:9 - do

Cross-References

Genesis 11:31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

Genesis 12:8
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .

Genesis 12:9
Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.

Genesis 14:21
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."

Acts 7:4
"So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. ‘But,' God said, ‘I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Peter therefore was kept in prison,.... Till the feast of the passover was at an end:

but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him; this was not done by them as a body together, but either by them in several bands at different places, or by some of the principal of the church at some one certain place, and where they might frequently change companies, and keep on a continual incessant prayer for days together; and whereas it is very likely it might be at the beginning of the passover, when Peter was taken up, and it was now at the close of it, when he was delivered, the church might be engaged by companies alternately, a whole week together, in prayer, on this occasion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But prayer was made - The church was apprised of his imprisonment and danger, and had no resource but to apply to God by prayer. In scenes of danger there is no other refuge; and the result shows that even in most discouraging circumstances God can hear prayer. Nothing scarcely could appear more hopeless than the idea of rescuing Peter out of the hands of Herod, and out of the prison, and out of the custody of sixteen men, by prayer. But the prayer of faith Was prevalent with God.

Without ceasing - Intense, steady, ardent prayer. The word used here ἐκτενής ektenēs is found in only one other place in the New Testament, 1 Peter 4:8, “Have fervent charity among yourselves.” The word has rather the idea that their prayer was earnest and fervent than that it was constant.

Of the church - By the church.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 12:5. Prayer was made without ceasing — The Greek word εκτενης signifies both fervour and earnestness, as well as perseverance. These prayers of the Church produced that miraculous interference mentioned below, and without which Peter could not have thus escaped from the hands of this ruthless king.