Acts 16:27

The jail boss woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open, and he thought, “All those prisoners ran away. I’m in big trouble now.” So he got his big knife, and he was going to kill himself.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

26Suddenly there was a very big earthquake. It shook the jail, and even the cement underneath it, and all the doors of the jail swung open, and all the chains fell off the arms and legs of all the prisoners.

28But Paul saw the jail boss and shouted to him, “Don’t hurt yourself. We are all here.”

Read all of Acts 16

Cross References

Acts 16:23So the soldiers hit Paul and Silas really hard with sticks, and then they put them in the jail. They told the boss over that jail, “Make sure Paul and Silas don’t get away.”

Matthew Henry on Acts 16:26-35

Paul and Silas in Prison; Conversion of the Philippian Jailer. 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Acts 16:27