²⁰ Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were going to meet with Herod. They had agreed on what they wanted to do: They enlisted the help of Blastus to ask Herod for terms of peace. This was because their cities depended on Herod for their food supply. (Blastus was in charge of the king’s living quarters.)

²¹ The appointed day came. Herod, wearing his royal clothes, sat on his throne and began making a speech to them. ²² The people started shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”