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Acts 16:16-40 — Paul and Silas in Prison

Acts.16.16-40

¹⁶Now it happened, as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much income by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl, following closely after Paul and us, kept crying out, saying, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.' ¹⁸And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, being greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!' And it came out at that very hour. ¹⁹But when her masters saw that the hope of their financial gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers, ²⁰and having brought them to the magistrates, they said, 'These men are throwing our city into turmoil, being Jews, ²¹and they are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.' ²²The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates tore off their garments and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³And after laying many blows on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴Having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. ²⁵Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer awoke from sleep and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But with a loud voice Paul called out, saying, 'Do not do yourself any harm, for we are all here!' ²⁹And calling for lights, he rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰and having brought them outside, he said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' ³¹And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus , and you will be saved, you and your household.' ³²And they spoke the word of God to him, along with all those in his house. ³³And he took them at that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴Then he brought them up into the house and set a meal before them, and he rejoiced with all his household, having believed in God. ³⁵When day came, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, 'Release those men.' ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul: 'The magistrates have sent orders that you should be released. Now therefore come out and go in peace.' ³⁷But Paul said to them, 'They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they throwing us out secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and bring us out.' ³⁸The officers reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹and they came and appeased them, and having brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city. ⁴⁰Now after going out from the prison, they went to Lydia's house, and having seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

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4/11/2026

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