Herod searched everywhere for him, but he couldn’t find him. So he suspected the guards. He questioned them and ordered them to be put to death. Herod then went from Judea to stay in Caesarea.
The night before Herod was going to put him on trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Lookouts were posted at the entrance to the prison.
He put Peter in prison and had him guarded by four groups of four soldiers each. Herod was planning to bring him out for a public trial after the Passover Feast.
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to come back, because Herod is going to try to find the child and kill him.”
When Herod realized that the wise men had tricked him, he became very angry. He gave orders to kill all the boys two years old and younger who were living in Bethlehem and the area around it. This was because the wise men had first seen the star two years earlier.