The Philippian Jailer

While Paul and Silas were going to the place of prayer in Philippi, a slave girl with a spirit of divination followed them for many days. Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it left her that very hour (Acts 16:16-18). When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. The magistrates tore the garments off Paul and Silas and gave orders to beat them with rods. After receiving many blows, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to keep them safely (Acts 16:19-23).

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners listened to them. Suddenly, a great earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, causing all the doors to open and everyone's bonds to be unfastened (Acts 16:25-26). The jailer awoke and, seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword to kill himself because he supposed the prisoners had escaped. Paul cried out with a loud voice, telling the jailer not to harm himself because they were all still present. The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas (Acts 16:27-29).

The jailer brought them out and asked what he must do to be saved. They told him to believe in the Lord Jesus, and they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. The text does not say exactly what was said in the speech, but the jailer washed their wounds, and he and all his family were baptized at once (Acts 16:30-33). The next morning, the magistrates sent police to release them, but Paul refused to leave secretly because they were Roman citizens who had been beaten publicly without a trial. The magistrates became afraid, came to appease them, and asked them to leave the city (Acts 16:35-39).