Acts 16:16-40

New American Standard Bible

¹⁶ It happened that as we were going to ^(A)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had ^(B)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^(C)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” ¹⁸ Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^(D)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very ^[a]moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(E)profit was suddenly gone, they seized ^(F)Paul and Silas and ^(G)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, ²¹ and they ^(H)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^(I)Romans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their ^[b]robes off them and proceeded to order ^[c]them to be ^(J)beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(K)the jailer to guard them securely; ^24 [d]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(L)the ^[e]stocks.

²⁵ Now about midnight ^(M)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(N)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly ^(O)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(P)all the doors were opened, and everyone’s ^(Q)chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When ^(R)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(S)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before ^(T)Paul and Silas; ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^(U)what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ They said, “^(V)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(W)your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(X)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set ^[f]food before them, and was ^[g]overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with ^(Y)his whole household.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And ^(Z)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go ^(AA)in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—^(AB)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come ^[h]in person and lead us out.” ³⁸ The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(AC)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them ^(AD)to leave the city. ⁴⁰ They left the prison and entered the house of ^(AE)Lydia, and when they saw ^(AF)the brothers and sisters, they ^[i]encouraged them and departed.