Bible Gateway passage: Acts 16:16-17:9 - English Standard Version (2024)

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶As we were going to ^(A)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(B)a spirit of ^(C)divination and ^(D)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, ^(E)crying out, “These men are ^(F)servants of ^(G)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(H)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(I)“I command you ^(J)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(K)it came out that very hour.

¹⁹But ^(L)when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(M)dragged 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 ^(N)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(O)as Romans to accept or practice.” ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^(P)to 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 ^(Q)prison and fastened their feet in ^(R)the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25(S)About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly ^(T)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^(U)all the doors were opened, and ^(V)everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^(W)was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer^[a] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^(X)fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^(Y)what must I do to be ^(Z)saved?” ³¹And they said, ^(AA)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^(AB)and your household.” ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them ^(AC)the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^(AD)was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^(AE)rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^(AF)uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^(AG)they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^(AH)asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰So they went out of the prison and visited ^(AI)Lydia. And when they had seen ^(AJ)the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(AK)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, ^(AL)as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ^(AM)from the Scriptures, ^3(AN)explaining and proving that it was necessary for ^(AO)the Christ to suffer and ^(AP)to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴And ^(AQ)some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ^(AR)a great many of the devout ^(AS)Greeks and not a few of the leading women. ^5(AT)But the Jews^{[b] (AU)}were jealous, and taking ^(AV)some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶And when they could not find them, ^(AW)they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^(AX)the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^(AY)another king, Jesus.” ⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.