Passage

Acts 16.20-38

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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. 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29. And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. 32. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34. And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God. 35. But when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36. And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace. 37. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out. 38. And the serjeants reported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans;"

"39. and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city. 40. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed." (Acts 16:18-40, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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. 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29. He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 30. brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31. They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32. They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. 33. He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 34. He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God. 35. But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.” 36. The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace.” 37. But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!” 38. The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,"

"39. and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city. 40. They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia’s house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, and departed." (Acts 16:18-40, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 38. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans."

"39. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. 40. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed." (Acts 16:18-40, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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, 28. and Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Thou mayest not do thyself any harm, for we are all here.' 29. And, having asked for a light, he sprang in, and trembling he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. and having brought them forth, said, 'Sirs, what must I do, that I may be saved?' 31. and they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house;' 32. and they spake to him the word of the Lord, and to all those in his household; 33. and having taken them, in that hour of the night, he did bathe [them] from the blows, and was baptized, himself and all his presently, 34. having brought them also into his house, he set food before [them], and was glad with all the household, he having believed in God. 35. And day having come, the magistrates sent the rod-bearers, saying, 'Let those men go;' 36. and the jailor told these words unto Paul, 'The magistrates have sent, that ye may be let go; now, therefore, having gone forth go on in peace;' 37. and Paul said to them, 'Having beaten us publicly uncondemned, men, Romans being, they did cast [us] to prison, and now privately do they cast us forth! why no! but having come themselves, let them bring us forth.' 38. And the rod-bearers told to the magistrates these sayings, and they were afraid, having heard that they are Romans,"

"39. and having come, they besought them, and having brought [them] forth, they were asking [them] to go forth from the city; 40. and they, having gone forth out of the prison, entered into [the house of] Lydia, and having seen the brethren, they comforted them, and went forth." (Acts 16:18-40, 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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Politarch Inscriptions

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.