Acts 16:16-34

Paul expelled a demon from a slave girl, so officials imprisoned Paul and Silas.

16 Another day, while we (exc) were going to the place where people regularly gathered to pray, we met a young woman who was a slave. An evil spirit was enabling her to be a ventriloquist and to tell people what would happen to them. People paid a lot of money to the men who were her owners, in return for her telling them things that she said would happen to them. 17 This young woman followed Paul and the rest of us. She continually shouted, "These men serve the God who is the greatest of all gods! They are telling you how ◄God can save you so that he will not punish you/to be saved►" 18 She continued to do that for many days. Finally Paul became irritated. So he turned toward the young woman and rebuked the evil spirit that was in her. He said, "By the authority [MTY] of Jesus Christ, I command you (sg) to come out of this young woman!" Right away the evil spirit left her. 19 And then her owners realized that she could no longer earn money for them because she could no longer predict what would happen to people, so they were angry. They grabbed Paul and Silas and forcefully took them to the public square, to the place where the government authorities and a lot of other people were gathered. 20 The owners of the young woman brought Paul and Silas to the city officials and told them, "These men are Jews, and they are greatly troubling the people in [MTY] our city. 21 They are teaching that we (inc) should follow customs that our laws do not allow us Romans to consider to be correct or to obey!" 22 Many of the crowd joined those who were accusing Paul and Silas, and started beating them. Then the Roman authorities commanded soldiers to tear the shirts off Paul and Silas and to beat them with rods/sticks. 23 So the soldiers beat Paul and Silas vigorously with rods. After that, they took them and shoved them into the prison. They told the jailer that he should lock them up securely. 24 Because the officials had commanded him to do that, the jailer shoved Paul and Silas into the cell that was farthest inside. There, he made them sit down on the floor/ground and stretch out their legs. Then he fastened their ankles in grooves between two large wooden beams, so that Paul and Silas could not move their legs.

Paul and Silas helped the jailer and his household to become believers.

Acts 16:25-34

25 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying aloud and praising God by singing hymns. The other prisoners were listening attentively to them. 26 Suddenly there was a very strong earthquake. It shook the entire jail [SYN] and its foundation [SYN]. The earthquake caused all the doors of the jail to open suddenly, and caused all the chains that fastened the prisoners to fall off. 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open. He thought that the prisoners had escaped. So he pulled out his sword in order to kill himself, because he knew that the officials would kill him if the prisoners escaped. 28 Paul saw the jailer and shouted to him, "Do not harm yourself! We (exc) prisoners are all here!" 29 The jailer shouted to someone to bring torches/lanterns, and after they brought them, he rushed into the jail and knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. He was very afraid, so much so that he was trembling/shaking. 30 Then he brought Paul and Silas out of the jail and asked: "Sirs, what do I need to do to be saved from being punished for my sins?" 31 They answered, "Trust in what the Lord Jesus has done for you, and you will be saved {God will save you}, and the others who live in [MTY] your house will also be saved if they believe in Jesus."

32-34 Then the jailer took Paul and Silas into his house, washed their wounds, and gave them a meal. He woke up all the people in his house, and Paul and Silas told all of them the message about the Lord Jesus. They all believed in him. Immediately after that, the jailer and all his family were baptized {Paul and Silas baptized the jailer and all his family}. They were very happy, because now they all believed in God.

Acts 16:35-40