Acts 16

Acts · Chapter 16

Acts 16:25

1Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:2Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.3Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.4And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.5And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.6Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,7After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.8And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.10And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.11Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;12And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.13And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:17The 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.18And 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.19And 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,20And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,21And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.26And 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.27And 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.28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.35And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.36And 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.37But 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.38And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.39And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.40And 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.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
TowardΚατὰKataG2596
according to

κατά (kata) κατά (bef. a vowel κατ᾽, καθ᾽; on the frequently neglect of elision, see Tdf., Pr., 95; WH, App., 146a), prep. with genitive, accusative, down, downwards. I. C. genitive (WM, §47, k; Bl., §42, 2). 1. C. genitive of thing(s), in local sense; (a) down, down from: Mat.8:32, Mrk.5:13, Luk.8:33, 1Co.11:4; (b) throughout (late usage; Bl, l.with): κ. ὅλης κ.τ.λ., Luk.4:14 23:5, Act.9:31 10:37; (with) in a peculiar adjectival phrase: ἡ κ. βάθους, deep or extreme poverty, 2Co.8:2. 2. C. genitive of person(s), usually in hostile sense; …

nowδὲdeG1161
then

δέ (de) δέ (before vowels δ᾽; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, see WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96), post-positive conjunctive particle; 1. copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mat.1:2ff., 2Co.6:15, 16, 2Pe.1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Rom.3:21, 22, 9:30, 1Co.2:6, Gal.2:2, Php.2:8; in transition to something new, Mat.1:18, 2:19, Luk.13:1, Jhn.7:14, Act.6:1, Rom.8:28, 1Co.7:1 8:1, al.; in explanatory parenthesis or addition, Jhn.3:19, Rom.5:8, 1Co.1:12, Eph.2:4, 5:32, al.; ὡς δέ, Jhn.2:9; καὶ . . . δέ, but also, Mat.10:18, Luk.1:76, Jhn.6:51, Rom.11:23, al.; …

midnightμεσονύκτιονmesonuktionG3317
midnight

μεσονύκτιος (mesonuktios) μεσο-νύκτιος (on seel, μεσα-, see Bl., § 6, 2), -ον (μέσος, νύξ), [in LXX chiefly for לַיִל חֵצִי ;] of or at midnight; as subst., neut., τὸ μ., midnight (Arist. and late writers) : genitive, Luk.11:5; μέχρι μ., Act.20:7; κατὰ τὸ μ., Act.16:25; accusative (Rec., genitive; see Bl., § 34, 8), Mrk.13:35.† μεσανύκτιον, see. μεσονύκτιος (AS)

PaulΠαῦλοςPaulosG3972G
Paul

Παῦλος (Paulos) Παῦλος, -ου, ὁ (Lat. Paulus), 1. Sergius Paulus: Act.13:7. 2. the Apostle Paul (cf. Σαῦλος): Act.13:9, and frequently throughout Ac., Rom.1:1, 1Co.1:1, al., 2Pe.3:15. (AS)

andκαὶkaiG2532
and

καί (kai) καί, conj., and I. Copulative. 1. Connecting single words; (a) in general: Mat.2:18, 16:1, Mrk.2:15, Luk.8:15, Heb.1:1, al. mult.; repeated before each of the terms in a series, Mat.23:23, Luk.14:21, Rom.7:12, 9:4, al. (b) connecting numerals (WM, §37, 4): Jhn.2:20, Act.13:20; (with) joining terms which are not mutually exclusive, as the part with the whole: Mat.8:33, 26:59, Mrk.16:17, Act.5:29, al. 2. Connecting clauses and sentences: Mat.3:12, Act.5:21, al. mult.; esp. …

SilasΣιλᾶςSilasG4609
Silas

Σίλας (Silas) Σίλας, -α (accusative to BL, § 29, W-Schm., 74, -ᾶς, -ᾶ), ὁ (Aram. שׁאִילָא; see Dalman, Gr., 157.5), Silas (called also Σιλουανός, which see): Act.15:22, 27 15:32, 34 15:40 16:19, 25 16:29 17:4, 10 17:14-15 18:5 † (AS)

prayingπροσευχόμενοιproseuchomenoiG4336
to pray

προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai) προσ-εύχομαι [in LXX chiefly for פָּלַל hith. ;] to pray (always of prayer to God, or in cl., to gods): absol., Mat.6:5-7, 9 14:23 19:13 26:36, 39 26:41, 44, Mrk.1:35 6:46 11:24-25 13:33 (WH, E, txt., om.) Mrk.14:32, 38-39 Luk.1:10 3:21 5:16 6:12 9:18, 28-29 11:1-2 18:1, 10 22:44 (WH, E, mg., om.), Act.1:24 6:6 9:11 10:9, 30 11:5 12:12 13:3 14:23 16:25 20:36 21:5 22:17 28:8, 1Co.11:4-5 14:14, 1Th.5:17, 1Ti.2:8, Jas.5:13, 18; before λέγων, Mat.26:39, 42, Luk.22:41; with dative instr., 1Co.11:5 14:14-15; μακρά, Mat.23:14 (WH, R, txt., om.), Mrk.12:40, Luk.20:47; ἐν πνεύματι (ἁγίῳ), Eph.6:18, J …

they were singing praises toὕμνουνhumnounG5214
to praise

ὑμνέω (humneō) ὑμνέω, -ῶ (ὕμνος) [in LXX for הָלַל pi., שִׁיר, יָדָה hi., etc. ;] 1. trans., with accusative of person(s) (in cl. also with accusative of thing(s)), to sing to, laud, sing to the praise of: Act.16:25, Heb.2:12. 2. Intrans., to sing: in LXX and NT, of singing hymns and praises to God (Psa.65:13, al.), Mat.26:30, Mrk.14:26 (see Swete, in l).† (AS)

God;θεόν·theonG2316
God

θεός (theos) θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Act.19:37 only; see M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mat.27:46; cf. Deu.3:24, al.), [in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc. ;] a god or deity, God. 1. In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Act.28:6, 1Co.8:4, 2Th.2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Gal.4:8, al. 2. Of the one true God; …

Were listeningἐπηκροῶντοepēkroōntoG1874
to listen ro

ἐπακροάομαι (epakroaomai) ἐπ-ακροάομαι, -ῶμαι to listen attentively: Act.16:25 (cf. Page, in l).† (AS)

nowδὲdeG1161
then

δέ (de) δέ (before vowels δ᾽; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, see WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96), post-positive conjunctive particle; 1. copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mat.1:2ff., 2Co.6:15, 16, 2Pe.1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Rom.3:21, 22, 9:30, 1Co.2:6, Gal.2:2, Php.2:8; in transition to something new, Mat.1:18, 2:19, Luk.13:1, Jhn.7:14, Act.6:1, Rom.8:28, 1Co.7:1 8:1, al.; in explanatory parenthesis or addition, Jhn.3:19, Rom.5:8, 1Co.1:12, Eph.2:4, 5:32, al.; ὡς δέ, Jhn.2:9; καὶ . . . δέ, but also, Mat.10:18, Luk.1:76, Jhn.6:51, Rom.11:23, al.; …

to themαὐτῶνautōnG0846
it/s/he

αὐτός (autos) αὐτός, -ή, -ό, determinative pron., in late Gk. much more frequently than in cl. (WM, 178f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399). 1. Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., see infr., iii); (1) self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Luk.5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jhn.2:25; αὐ.ὑμεῖς, Jhn.3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Rom.15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jhn.2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, Mrk.2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mrk.6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mat.3:4, Mrk.6:17, Jhn.16:27, 1Th.3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes weakened, ἐν αὐτῇ τ. ὥρᾳ, in that hour, Luk.10:21 (M, Pr., 91; …

prisoners.δέσμιοι.desmioiG1198
prisoner

δέσμιος (desmios) δέσμιος, -ον (also -α, -ον; δεσμός), [in LXX for אסר;] 1. binding. 2. bound, captive; ὁ δ., as subst., a prisoner: Mat.27:15, 16, Mrk.15:6, Act.16:25, 27 23:18 25:14, 27 28:16 (Rec.) 17, Heb.10:34 13:3; ὁ δ. τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Eph.3:1, 2Ti.1:8, Phm 1, 9; ὁ δ. ἐν κυρίῳ, Eph.4:1.† (AS)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.