Paul and Silas Imprisoned

One day as we were going to [the place of] prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination,[fn] who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling. 17 [This girl] followed Paul and [the rest of] us,[fn] shouting“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to us[fn] [the] way of salvation!”

18 

She continued this for many days. [Eventually] Paul grew so aggravated [that] he turned [and] said to the spirit,“In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And [the spirit] left her at that very moment.

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[When] [the girl’s] owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas [and] dragged [them] before the authorities in the marketplace. 20 They brought them to the magistrates [and] said,“These men are Jews [and] are throwing our city {into turmoil} 21 [by] promoting customs that vvv are unlawful for us Romans to adopt [or] practice.”

22 

The crowd joined in the attack against [Paul and Silas], and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped [and] beaten with rods. 23 And after striking them with many blows, they threw [them] into prison [and] ordered the jailer to guard them securely. 24 On receiving [this] order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

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