So, "the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, and, being filled with envy, laid their hands on the Apostles, and put them in the common prison." These prejudiced and ignorant rulers were determined to make the Twelve stop preaching Christ; because if what the Twelve said was true, these rulers would be blamed for having put to death the King of the Jews. But poor, puny man cannot hinder the work of the Lord. [Sidenote: A Miraculous Deliverance.] Some time during the night while the prisoners were together in the prison room--perhaps singing hymns and praying--an angel of the Lord appeared to them. He opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said: "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." About this command George L. Weed writes: "'Go'--the very word they had heard from the Lord before His ascension to Heaven, whence He had sent His angel to repeat it in prison. 'Go'--in spite of threats and commands, of bolts and bars and prison guards. In the name of Him who commanded you, 'Go, preach my Gospel,' do ye 'Stand and speak in the Temple'--the very place whence ye have been driven, Speak to the people, all who will listen, for your Master and mine is the Savior of them all. Speak all the words of this life--the promised future life of which the resurrection of Jesus is the first fulfilment." Obedient to the angel's command, the Twelve entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. How their message must have thrilled the eager listeners who had assembled that early to hear the word of God! [Sidenote: The Jews Perplexed.] Just as early that same morning another group of men assembled. The high priest called his council together, "and all the senate of the children of Israel." When this council was in readiness, the high priest sent to the prison for Peter and his brethren. Soon the officers returned and said: "The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within." Perplexed by this unexpected anouncement, the high priest and council seemed to be unable to decide just what to do. While they were still seeking for a satisfactory explanation or for the next definite step to take, some one entered, saying: "Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people." Hearing this, the captain of the temple with his officers fetched the Apostles before the council. But the officers took them "without violence;" that is, without doing them any injury or without using them roughly; "for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned." As soon as the Twelve appeared, the high priest demanded: [Sidenote: Before the Council.] "Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."