# Acts 16.19-25 **Book:** [Acts](/codex/acts/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 17. The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation. 18. And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour. > > **19. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers, 20. and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21. and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans. 22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods. 23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24. who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;** > > 26. and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27. And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. (Acts 16:17-27, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 17. Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!” 18. She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour. > > **19. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20. When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city, 21. and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” 22. The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23. When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, 24. who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. 25. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.** > > 26. Suddenly 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 loosened. 27. The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. (Acts 16:17-27, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 17. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. > > **19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, marketplace: or, court 20. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.** > > 26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. (Acts 16:17-27, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 17. she having followed Paul and us, was crying, saying, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who declare to us a way of salvation;' 18. and this she was doing for many days, but Paul having been grieved, and having turned, said to the spirit, 'I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come forth from her;' and it came forth the same hour. > > **19. And her masters having seen that the hope of their employment was gone, having caught Paul and Silas, drew [them] to the market-place, unto the rulers, 20. and having brought them to the magistrates, they said, 'These men do exceedingly trouble our city, being Jews; 21. and they proclaim customs that are not lawful for us to receive nor to do, being Romans.' 22. And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates having torn their garments from them, were commanding to beat [them] with rods, 23. many blows also having laid upon them, they cast them to prison, having given charge to the jailor to keep them safely, 24. who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks. 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas praying, were singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were hearing them,** > > 26. and suddenly a great earthquake came, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, opened also presently were all the doors, and of all, the bands were loosed; 27. and the jailor having come out of sleep, and having seen the doors of the prison open, having drawn a sword, was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to be fled, (Acts 16:17-27, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - [G1492 - oida](/codex/g1492-oida/), *oida*, Strong's G1492 - [G2962 - kyrios](/codex/g2962-kyrios/), *kyrios*, Strong's G2962 - [G2316 - theos](/codex/g2316-theos/), *theos*, Strong's G2316 ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Argument from the Universal Music Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-universal-music-convergence/), via [Acts 16.25](/codex/acts-16-25/) - [Gentiles Cannot Be Saved Objection Defeater](/codex/gentiles-cannot-be-saved-objection-defeater/), via [Acts 16.25-34](/codex/acts-16-25-34/) **Concepts:** - [Church at Philippi](/codex/church-at-philippi/), via [Acts 16.11-40](/codex/acts-16-11-40/), [Acts 16.19-24](/codex/acts-16-19-24/), [Acts 16.20](/codex/acts-16-20/), [Acts 16.25-34](/codex/acts-16-25-34/) - [Churches the Disciples Started](/codex/churches-the-disciples-started/), via [Acts 16.11-40](/codex/acts-16-11-40/) - [NT Authorship and Eyewitness Apologetics](/codex/nt-authorship-and-eyewitness-apologetics/), via [Acts 16.20](/codex/acts-16-20/) - [Politarch Inscriptions](/codex/politarch-inscriptions/), via [Acts 16.20-38](/codex/acts-16-20-38/) **Passages:** - [1 Thessalonians 1.1](/codex/1-thessalonians-1-1/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.