Acts 16:19–40

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of making money^u was gone, they seized Paul and Silas^v and dragged^w them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar^{x 21}by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans^y to accept or practice.”^z

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.^{a 23}After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer^b was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^c

²⁵About midnight^d Paul and Silas^e were praying and singing hymns^f to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.^g At once all the prison doors flew open,^h and everyone’s chains came loose.^{i 27}The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.^{j 28}But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.^{k 30}He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^l

³¹They replied, “Believe^m in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedⁿ—you and your household.”^{o 32}Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night^p the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.^{q 34}The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he^r was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

³⁵When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” ³⁶The jailer^s told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”^t

³⁷But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens,^u and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.^{v 39}They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.^{w 40}After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house,^x where they met with the brothers and sisters^y and encouraged them. Then they left.