Peter’s Confession About Jesus.^* 13^h When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi^* he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14ⁱ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,^* others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16^{* j} Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood^* has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18^k And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,^* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19^l I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.^* Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20^{* m} Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

6On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. 7Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. 8The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. 11Then Peter recovered his senses and said, “Now I know for certain that [the] Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” 12When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where there were many people gathered in prayer.^b 13When he knocked on the gateway door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it. 14She was so overjoyed when she recognized Peter’s voice that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15They told her, “You are out of your mind,” but she insisted that it was so. But they kept saying, “It is his angel.” 16But Peter continued to knock, and when they opened it, they saw him and were astounded. 17He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and explained [to them] how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and said, “Report this to James^* and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place. 18At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.^c 19Herod, after instituting a search but not finding him, ordered the guards tried and executed. Then he left Judea to spend some time in Caesarea.