Acts 16:16–24

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶As we were going to ^xthe place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^ya spirit of ^zdivination and ^abrought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, ^bcrying out, “These men are ^cservants of ^dthe Most High God, who proclaim to you ^ethe way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^f“I command you ^gin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^hit came out that very hour.

¹⁹But ⁱwhen her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^jdragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹They ^kadvocate customs that are not lawful for us ^las Romans to accept or practice.” ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^mto beat them with rods. ²³And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴Having received this order, he put them into the inner ⁿprison and fastened their feet in ^othe stocks.